Systems, methods, and devices for electronic spectrum management for identifying signal-emitting devices

ABSTRACT

Apparatus and methods for identifying a wireless signal-emitting device are disclosed. The apparatus is configured to sense and measure wireless communication signals from signal-emitting devices in a spectrum. The apparatus is operable to automatically detect a signal of interest from the wireless signal-emitting device and create a signal profile of the signal of interest; compare the signal profile with stored device signal profiles for identification of the wireless signal-emitting device; and calculate signal degradation data for the signal of interest based on information associated with the signal of interest in a static database including noise figure parameters of a wireless signal-emitting device outputting the signal of interest. The signal profile of the signal of interest, profile comparison result, and signal degradation data are stored in the apparatus.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to and claims priority from the followingU.S. patents and patent applications: this application is a continuationof U.S. application Ser. No. 18/201,295, filed May 24, 2023, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/490,736, filed Sep. 30,2021, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/795,875,filed Feb. 20, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.No. 16/295,691, filed Mar. 7, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 15/596,756, filed May 16, 2017, which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/412,982, filed Jan.23, 2017, a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.14/940,299, filed Nov. 13, 2015, and a continuation-in-part of U.S.application Ser. No. 15/478,916, filed Apr. 4, 2017. U.S. applicationSer. No. 14/940,299, filed Nov. 13, 2015, is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/504,784, filed Oct. 2, 2014, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/329,820, filed Jul. 11,2014, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/086,861,filed Nov. 21, 2013, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. applicationSer. No. 14/082,873, filed Nov. 18, 2013, which is a continuation ofU.S. application Ser. No. 13/912,683, filed Jun. 7, 2013, which claimsthe benefit of U.S. Application No. 61/789,758, filed Mar. 15, 2013.U.S. application Ser. No. 14/086,861, filed Nov. 21, 2013, is also acontinuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/082,916, filed Nov.18, 2013, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/912,893, filed Jun. 7, 2013, which claims the benefit of U.S.Application No. 61/789,758, filed Mar. 15, 2013. U.S. application Ser.No. 14/086,861, filed Nov. 21, 2013, is also a continuation-in-part ofU.S. application Ser. No. 14/082,930, filed Nov. 18, 2013, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/913,013, filed Jun. 7,2013, which claims the benefit of U.S. Application No. 61/789,758, filedMar. 15, 2013. U.S. application Ser. No. 15/478,916, filed Apr. 4, 2017,is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/934,808 filedNov. 6, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/504,836 filed Oct. 2, 2014, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/331,706 filed Jul. 15, 2014, which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/086,875 filed Nov.21, 2013, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.14/082,873 filed Nov. 18, 2013, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 13/912,683 filed Jun. 7, 2013, which claims thebenefit of U.S. Application No. 61/789,758 filed Mar. 15, 2013. U.S.application Ser. No. 14/086,875 is also a continuation-in-part of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/082,916 filed Nov. 18, 2013, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/912,893 filed Jun. 7, 2013,which claims the benefit of U.S. Application No. 61/789,758 filed Mar.15, 2013. U.S. application Ser. No. 14/086,875 is also acontinuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/082,930 filed Nov.18, 2013, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/913,013 filed Jun. 7, 2013, which claims the benefit of U.S.Application No. 61/789,758 filed Mar. 15, 2013. Each of the U.S.applications mentioned above is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to spectrum analysis and management forradio frequency signals, and more particularly for automaticallydetecting devices operating in white space.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Generally, it is known in the prior art to provide wirelesscommunications spectrum management for detecting devices for managingthe space. Spectrum management includes the process of regulating theuse of radio frequencies to promote efficient use and gain net socialbenefit. A problem faced in effective spectrum management is the variousnumbers of devices emanating wireless signal propagations at differentfrequencies and across different technological standards. Coupled withthe different regulations relating to spectrum usage around the globeeffective spectrum management becomes difficult to obtain and at bestcan only be reached over a long period of time.

Another problem facing effective spectrum management is the growing needfrom spectrum despite the finite amount of spectrum available. Wirelesstechnologies have exponentially grown in recent years. Consequently,available spectrum has become a valuable resource that must beefficiently utilized. Therefore, systems and methods are needed toeffectively manage and optimize the available spectrum that is beingused.

Most spectrum management devices may be categorized into two primarytypes. The first type is a spectral analyzer where a device isspecifically fitted to run a ‘scanner’ type receiver that is tailored toprovide spectral information for a narrow window of frequencies relatedto a specific and limited type of communications standard, such ascellular communication standard. Problems arise with these narrowlytailored devices as cellular standards change and/or spectrum usechanges impact the spectrum space of these technologies. Changes to thesoftware and hardware for these narrowly tailored devices become toocomplicated, thus necessitating the need to purchase a totally differentand new device. Unfortunately, this type of device is only for aspecific use and cannot be used to alleviate the entire needs of thespectrum management community.

The second type of spectral management device employs a methodology thatrequires bulky, extremely difficult to use processes, and expensiveequipment. In order to attain a broad spectrum management view andcomplete all the necessary tasks, the device ends up becoming aconglomerate of software and hardware devices that is both hard to useand difficult to maneuver from one location to another.

While there may be several additional problems associated with currentspectrum management devices, at least four major problems existoverall: 1) most devices are built to inherently only handle specificspectrum technologies such as 900 MHz cellular spectrum while not beingable to mitigate other technologies that may be interfering or competingwith that spectrum, 2) the other spectrum management devices consist oflarge spectrum analyzers, database systems, and spectrum managementsoftware that is expensive, too bulky, and too difficult to manage for auser's basic needs, 3) other spectrum management devices in the priorart require external connectivity to remote databases to performanalysis and provide results or reports with analytics to aid inmanagement of spectrum and/or devices, and 4) other devices of the priorart do not function to provide real-time or near real-time data andanalysis to allow for efficient management of the space and/or devicesand signals therein.

Examples of relevant prior art documents include the following:

U.S. Pat. No. 8,326,240 for “System for specific emitter identification”by inventors Kadambe, et al., filed Sep. 27, 2010, describes anapparatus for identifying a specific emitter in the presence of noiseand/or interference including (a) a sensor configured to sense radiofrequency signal and noise data, (b) a reference estimation unitconfigured to estimate a reference signal relating to the signaltransmitted by one emitter, (c) a feature estimation unit configured togenerate one or more estimates of one or more feature from the referencesignal and the signal transmitted by that particular emitter, and (d) anemitter identifier configured to identify the signal transmitted by thatparticular emitter as belonging to a specific device (e.g., devicesusing Gaussian Mixture Models and the Bayesian decision engine). Theapparatus may also include an SINR enhancement unit configured toenhance the SINR of the data before the reference estimation unitestimates the reference signal.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,835,319 for “System and method for identifying wirelessdevices using pulse fingerprinting and sequence analysis” by inventorSugar, filed May 9, 2007, discloses methods for identifying devices thatare sources of wireless signals from received radio frequency (RF)energy, and, particularly, sources emitting frequency hopping spreadspectrum (FHSS). Pulse metric data is generated from the received RFenergy and represents characteristics associated thereto. The pulses arepartitioned into groups based on their pulse metric data such that agroup comprises pulses having similarities for at least one item ofpulse metric data. Sources of the wireless signals are identified basedon the partitioning process. The partitioning process involvesiteratively subdividing each group into subgroups until all resultingsubgroups contain pulses determined to be from a single source. At eachiteration, subdividing is performed based on different pulse metric datathan at a prior iteration. Ultimately, output data is generated (e.g., adevice name for display) that identifies a source of wireless signalsfor any subgroup that is determined to contain pulses from a singlesource.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,131,239 for “Method and apparatus for remote detectionof radio-frequency devices” by inventors Walker, et al., filed Aug. 21,2007, describes methods and apparatus for detecting the presence ofelectronic communications devices, such as cellular phones, including acomplex RF stimulus is transmitted into a target area, and nonlinearreflection signals received from the target area are processed to obtaina response measurement. The response measurement is compared to apre-determined filter response profile to detect the presence of a radiodevice having a corresponding filter response characteristic. In someembodiments, the pre-determined filter response profile comprises apre-determined band-edge profile, so that comparing the responsemeasurement to a pre-determined filter response profile comprisescomparing the response measurement to the pre-determined band-edgeprofile to detect the presence of a radio device having a correspondingband-edge characteristic. Invention aims to be useful in detectinghidden electronic devices.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,369,305 for “Correlating multiple detections of wirelessdevices without a unique identifier” by inventors Diener, et al., filedJun. 30, 2008, describes at a plurality of first devices, wirelesstransmissions are received at different locations in a region wheremultiple target devices may be emitting, and identifier data issubsequently generated. Similar identifier data associated with receivedemissions at multiple first devices are grouped together into a clusterrecord that potentially represents the same target device detected bymultiple first devices. Data is stored that represents a plurality ofcluster records from identifier data associated with received emissionsmade over time by multiple first devices. The cluster records areanalyzed over time to correlate detections of target devices acrossmultiple first devices. It aims to lessen disruptions caused by devicesusing the same frequency and to protect data.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,155,649 for “Method and system for classifyingcommunication signals in a dynamic spectrum access system” by inventorsMcHenry, et al., filed Aug. 14, 2009, discloses methods and systems fordynamic spectrum access (DSA) in a wireless network wherein aDSA-enabled device may sense spectrum use in a region and, based on thedetected spectrum use, select one or more communication channels foruse. The devices also may detect one or more other DSA-enabled deviceswith which they can form DSA networks. A DSA network may monitorspectrum use by cooperative and non-cooperative devices, to dynamicallyselect one or more channels to use for communication while avoiding orreducing interference with other devices. A DSA network may includedetectors such as a narrow-band detector, wide-band detector, TVdetector, radar detector, a wireless microphone detector, or anycombination thereof.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,494,464 for “Cognitive networked electronic warfare” byinventors Kadambe, et al., filed Sep. 8, 2010, describes an apparatusfor sensing and classifying radio communications including sensor unitsconfigured to detect RF signals, a signal classifier configured toclassify the detected RF signals into a classification, theclassification including at least one known signal type and an unknownsignal type, a clustering learning algorithm capable of finding clustersof common signals among the previously seen unknown signals; it is thenfurther configured to use these clusters to retrain the signalclassifier to recognize these signals as a new signal type, aiming toprovide signal identification to better enable electronic attacks andjamming signals.

U.S. Publication No. 2011/0059747 for “Sensing Wireless TransmissionsFrom a Licensed User of a Licensed Spectral Resource” by inventorsLindoff, et al., filed Sep. 7, 2009, describes sensing wirelesstransmissions from a licensed user of a licensed spectral resourceincludes obtaining information indicating a number of adjacent sensorsthat are concurrently sensing wireless transmissions from the licenseduser of the licensed spectral resource. Such information can be obtainedfrom a main node controlling the sensor and its adjacent sensors, or bythe sensor itself (e.g., by means of short-range communication equipmenttargeting any such adjacent sensors). A sensing rate is then determinedas a function, at least in part, of the information indicating thenumber of adjacent sensors that are concurrently sensing wirelesstransmissions from the licensed user of the licensed spectral resource.Receiver equipment is then periodically operated at the determinedsensing rate, wherein the receiver equipment is configured to detectwireless transmissions from the licensed user of the licensed spectralresource.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,463,195 for “Methods and apparatus for spectrum sensingof signal features in a wireless channel” by inventor Shellhammer, filedNov. 13, 2009, discloses methods and apparatus for sensing features of asignal in a wireless communication system are disclosed. The disclosedmethods and apparatus sense signal features by determining a number ofspectral density estimates, where each estimate is derived based onreception of the signal by a respective antenna in a system withmultiple sensing antennas. The spectral density estimates are thencombined, and the signal features are sensed based on the combination ofthe spectral density estimates. Invention aims to increase sensingperformance by addressing problems associated with Rayleigh fading,which causes signals to be less detectable.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,151,311 for “System and method of detecting potentialvideo traffic interference” by inventors Huffman, et al., filed Nov. 30,2007, describes a method of detecting potential video trafficinterference at a video head-end of a video distribution network isdisclosed and includes detecting, at a video head-end, a signalpopulating an ultra-high frequency (UHF) white space frequency. Themethod also includes determining that a strength of the signal is equalto or greater than a threshold signal strength. Further, the methodincludes sending an alert from the video head-end to a networkmanagement system. The alert indicates that the UHF white spacefrequency is populated by a signal having a potential to interfere withvideo traffic delivered via the video head-end. Cognitive radiotechnology, various sensing mechanisms (energy sensing, NationalTelevision System Committee signal sensing, Advanced Television SystemsCommittee sensing), filtering, and signal reconstruction are disclosed.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,311,509 for “Detection, communication and control inmultimode cellular, TDMA, GSM, spread spectrum, CDMA, OFDM, WiLAN, andWiFi systems” by inventor Feher, filed Oct. 31, 2007, teaches a devicefor detection of signals, with location finder or location tracker ornavigation signal and with Modulation Demodulation (Modem) FormatSelectable (MFS) communication signal. Processor for processing adigital signal into cross-correlated in-phase and quadrature-phasefiltered signal and for processing a voice signal into OrthogonalFrequency Division Multiplexed (OFDM) or Orthogonal Frequency DivisionMultiple Access (OFDMA) signal. Each is used in a Wireless Local AreaNetwork (WLAN) and in Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network.Device and location finder with Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA),Global Mobile System (GSM) and spread spectrum Code Division MultipleAccess (CDMA) is used in a cellular network. Polar and quadraturemodulator and two antenna transmitter for transmission of providedprocessed signal. Transmitter with two amplifiers operated in separateradio frequency (RF) bands. One transmitter is operated as aNon-Linearly Amplified (NLA) transmitter and the other transmitter isoperated as a linearly amplified or linearized amplifier transmitter.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,514,729 for “Method and system for analyzing RF signalsin order to detect and classify actively transmitting RF devices” byinventor Blackwell, filed Apr. 3, 2009, discloses methods andapparatuses to analyze RF signals in order to detect and classify RFdevices in wireless networks are described. The method includesdetecting one or more radio frequency (RF) samples; determining burstdata by identifying start and stop points of the one or more RF samples;comparing time domain values for an individual burst with time domainvalues of one or more predetermined RF device profiles; generating ahuman-readable result indicating whether the individual burst should beassigned to one of the predetermined RF device profiles; and,classifying the individual burst if assigned to one of the predeterminedRF device profiles as being a WiFi device or a non-WiFi device with thenon-WiFi device being a RF interference source to a wireless network.

However, none of the prior art references provide solutions to thelimitations and longstanding unmet needs existing in this area fordetecting signal emitting devices. Thus, there remains a need forautomated device sensing in white space for wireless communications.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses the longstanding, unmet needs existingin the prior art and commercial sectors to provide solutions to the atleast four major problems existing before the present invention. Thepresent invention relates to systems, methods, and devices of thevarious embodiments enable spectrum management by identifying,classifying, and cataloging signals of interest based on radio frequencymeasurements. In an embodiment, signals and the parameters of thesignals may be identified and indications of available frequencies maybe presented to a user. In another embodiment, the protocols of signalsmay also be identified. In a further embodiment, the modulation ofsignals, data types carried by the signals, and estimated signal originsmay be identified.

It is an object of this invention is to provide an apparatus foridentifying signal emitting devices including: a housing, at least oneprocessor and memory, and sensors constructed and configured for sensingand measuring wireless communications signals from signal emittingdevices in a spectrum associated with wireless communications; andwherein the apparatus is operable to automatically analyze the measureddata to identify at least one signal emitting device in near real timefrom attempted detection and identification of the at least one signalemitting device.

The present invention further provides systems for identifying signalemitting devices including at least one apparatus, wherein the at leastone apparatus is operable for network-based communication with at leastone server computer including a database, and/or with at least one otherapparatus, but does not require a connection to the at least one servercomputer to be operable for identifying signal emitting devices; whereineach of the apparatus is operable for identifying signal emittingdevices including: a housing, at least one processor and memory, andsensors constructed and configured for sensing and measuring wirelesscommunications signals from signal emitting devices in a spectrumassociated with wireless communications; and wherein the apparatus isoperable to automatically analyze the measured data to identify at leastone signal emitting device in near real time from attempted detectionand identification of the at least one signal emitting device.

The present invention is further directed to a method for identifyingsignal emitting devices including the steps of: providing a device formeasuring characteristics of signals from signal emitting devices in aspectrum associated with wireless communications, with measured datacharacteristics including frequency, power, bandwidth, duration,modulation, and combinations thereof; the device including a housing, atleast one processor and memory, and sensors constructed and configuredfor sensing and measuring wireless communications signals within thespectrum; and further including the following steps performed within thedevice housing: assessing whether the measured data includes analogand/or digital signal(s); determining a best fit based on frequency, ifthe measured power spectrum is designated in an historical or areference database(s) for frequency ranges; automatically determining acategory for either analog or digital signals, based on power andsideband combined with frequency allocation; determining a TDM/FDM/CDMsignal, based on duration and bandwidth; and identifying at least onesignal emitting device from the composite results of the foregoingsteps.

These and other aspects of the present invention will become apparent tothose skilled in the art after a reading of the following description ofthe preferred embodiment when considered with the drawings, as theysupport the claimed invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and constitutepart of this specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments of theinvention, and together with the general description given above and thedetailed description given below, serve to explain the features of theinvention.

FIG. 1 is a system block diagram of a wireless environment suitable foruse with the various embodiments.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram of a spectrum management device according toan embodiment.

FIG. 2B is a schematic logic flow block diagram illustrating logicaloperations which may be performed by a spectrum management deviceaccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method foridentifying a signal.

FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method formeasuring sample blocks of a radio frequency scan.

FIG. 5A is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method fordetermining signal parameters.

FIG. 5B is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method fordetermining signal parameters continued from FIG. 5A.

FIG. 5C is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method fordetermining signal parameters continued from FIGS. 5A-5B.

FIG. 6 is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method fordisplaying signal identifications.

FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method fordisplaying one or more open frequency.

FIG. 8A is a block diagram of a spectrum management device according toanother embodiment.

FIG. 8B is a schematic logic flow block diagram illustrating logicaloperations which may be performed by a spectrum management deviceaccording to another embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method fordetermining protocol data and symbol timing data.

FIG. 10 is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method forcalculating signal degradation data.

FIG. 11 is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method fordisplaying signal and protocol identification information.

FIG. 12A is a block diagram of a spectrum management device according toa further embodiment.

FIG. 12B is a schematic logic flow block diagram illustrating logicaloperations which may be performed by a spectrum management deviceaccording to a further embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method forestimating a signal origin based on a frequency difference of arrival.

FIG. 14 is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method fordisplaying an indication of an identified data type within a signal.

FIG. 15 is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method fordetermining modulation type, protocol data, and symbol timing data.

FIG. 16 is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method fortracking a signal origin.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment for scanningand finding open space.

FIG. 18 is a diagram of an embodiment wherein software defined radionodes are in communication with a master transmitter and device sensingmaster.

FIG. 19 is a process flow diagram of an embodiment method of temporallydividing up data into intervals for power usage analysis.

FIG. 20 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment wherein frequencyto license matching occurs.

FIG. 21 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method forreporting power usage information.

FIG. 22 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method for creatingfrequency arrays.

FIG. 23 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method for reframeand aggregating power when producing frequency arrays.

FIG. 24 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method of reportinglicense expirations.

FIG. 25 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method of reportingfrequency power use.

FIG. 26 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method ofconnecting devices.

FIG. 27 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method ofaddressing collisions.

FIG. 28 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the inventionillustrating a virtualized computing network and a plurality ofdistributed devices.

FIG. 29 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 30 is a schematic diagram illustrating the present invention in avirtualized or cloud computing system with a network and a mobilecomputer or mobile communications device.

FIG. 31 shows a screen shot illustration for automatic signal detectionindications on displays associated with the present invention.

FIG. 32 shows another screen shot illustration for automatic signaldetection indications on displays associated with the present invention.

FIG. 33 shows yet another screen shot illustration for automatic signaldetection indications on displays associated with the present invention.

FIG. 34 shows still another screen shot illustration for automaticsignal detection indications on displays associated with the presentinvention.

FIG. 35 is an example of a receiver that has marked variations onbaseline behavior across a wide spectrum (9 MHz-6 GHz).

FIG. 36 shows a normal spectrum from 700 MHz to 790 MHz in oneembodiment.

FIG. 37 shows the same spectrum as in FIG. 36 at a different time.

FIG. 38 illustrates a spectrum from 1.9 GHz to 2.0 GHz, along with someadditional lines that indicate the functions of the new algorithm.

FIG. 39 is a close up view of the first part of the overall spectrum inFIG. 38 .

FIG. 40 illustrates a knowledge map obtained by a TFE process.

FIG. 41 illustrates an interpretation operation based on a knowledgemap.

FIG. 42 shows the identification of signals, which are represented bythe black brackets above the knowledge display.

FIG. 43 shows more details of the narrow band signals at the left of thespectrum around 400 MHz in FIG. 42 .

FIG. 44 shows more details of the wide band signals and narrow bandsignals between 735 MHz and 790 MHz in FIG. 42 .

FIG. 45 illustrates an operation of the ASD in the present invention.

FIG. 46 provides a flow diagram for geolocation in the presentinvention.

FIG. 47 illustrates a local small diversity array withNorth-South/East-West orientation.

FIG. 48 illustrates a synthetic aperture for a bearing from the midpointof two monitoring units.

FIG. 49 illustrates the use of another component to establish asynthetic aperture yielding another bearing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to the drawings in general, the illustrations are for thepurpose of describing at least one preferred embodiment and/or examplesof the invention and are not intended to limit the invention thereto.Various embodiments are described in detail with reference to theaccompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers areused throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.References made to particular examples and implementations are forillustrative purposes, and are not intended to limit the scope of theinvention or the claims.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example,instance, or illustration.” Any implementation described herein as“exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other implementations.

The present invention provides systems, methods, and devices forspectrum analysis and management by identifying, classifying, andcataloging at least one or a multiplicity of signals of interest basedon radio frequency measurements and location and other measurements, andusing near real-time parallel processing of signals and theircorresponding parameters and characteristics in the context ofhistorical and static data for a given spectrum.

The systems, methods and apparatus according to the present inventionpreferably have the ability to detect in near real time, and morepreferably to detect, sense, measure, and/or analyze in near real time,and more preferably to perform any near real time operations withinabout 1 second or less. Advantageously, the present invention and itsreal time functionality described herein uniquely provide and enable theapparatus units to compare to historical data, to update data and/orinformation, and/or to provide more data and/or information on the openspace, on the device that may be occupying the open space, andcombinations, in the near real time compared with the historicallyscanned (15 min to 30 days) data, or historical database information.

The systems, methods, and devices of the various embodiments enablespectrum management by identifying, classifying, and cataloging signalsof interest based on radio frequency measurements. In an embodiment,signals and the parameters of the signals may be identified andindications of available frequencies may be presented to a user. Inanother embodiment, the protocols of signals may also be identified. Ina further embodiment, the modulation of signals, data types carried bythe signals, and estimated signal origins may be identified.

Embodiments are directed to a spectrum management device that may beconfigurable to obtain spectrum data over a wide range of wirelesscommunication protocols. Embodiments may also provide for the ability toacquire data from and sending data to database depositories that may beused by a plurality of spectrum management customers.

In one embodiment, a spectrum management device may include a signalspectrum analyzer that may be coupled with a database system andspectrum management interface. The device may be portable or may be astationary installation and may be updated with data to allow the deviceto manage different spectrum information based on frequency, bandwidth,signal power, time, and location of signal propagation, as well asmodulation type and format and to provide signal identification,classification, and geo-location. A processor may enable the device toprocess spectrum power density data as received and to process raw I/Qcomplex data that may be used for further signal processing, signalidentification, and data extraction.

In an embodiment, a spectrum management device may comprise a low noiseamplifier that receives a radio frequency (RF) energy from an antenna.The antenna may be any antenna structure that is capable of receiving RFenergy in a spectrum of interest. The low noise amplifier may filter andamplify the RF energy. The RF energy may be provided to an RFtranslator. The RF translator may perform a fast Fourier transform (FFT)and either a square magnitude or a fast convolution spectral periodogramfunction to convert the RF measurements into a spectral representation.In an embodiment, the RF translator may also store a timestamp tofacilitate calculation of a time of arrival and an angle of arrival. TheIn-Phase and Quadrature (I/Q) data may be provided to a spectralanalysis receiver or it may be provided to a sample data store where itmay be stored without being processed by a spectral analysis receiver.The input RF energy may also be directly digital down-converted andsampled by an analog to digital converter (ADC) to generate complex I/Qdata. The complex I/Q data may be equalized to remove multipath, fading,white noise and interference from other signaling systems by fastparallel adaptive filter processes. This data may then be used tocalculate modulation type and baud rate. Complex sampled I/Q data mayalso be used to measure the signal angle of arrival and time of arrival.Such information as angle of arrival and time of arrival may be used tocompute more complex and precise direction finding. In addition, theymay be used to apply geo-location techniques. Data may be collected fromknown signals or unknown signals and time spaced in order to provideexpedient information. I/Q sampled data may contain raw signal data thatmay be used to demodulate and translate signals by streaming them to asignal analyzer or to a real-time demodulator software defined radiothat may have the newly identified signal parameters for the signal ofinterest. The inherent nature of the input RF allows for any type ofsignal to be analyzed and demodulated based on the reconfiguration ofthe software defined radio interfaces.

A spectral analysis receiver may be configured to read raw In-Phase (I)and Quadrature (Q) data and either translate directly to spectral dataor down convert to an intermediate frequency (IF) up to half the Nyquistsampling rate to analyze the incoming bandwidth of a signal. Thetranslated spectral data may include measured values of signal energy,frequency, and time. The measured values provide attributes of thesignal under review that may confirm the detection of a particularsignal of interest within a spectrum of interest. In an embodiment, aspectral analysis receiver may have a referenced spectrum input of 0 Hzto 12.4 GHz with capability of fiber optic input for spectrum input upto 60 GHz.

In an embodiment, the spectral analysis receiver may be configured tosample the input RF data by fast analog down-conversion of the RFsignal. The down-converted signal may then be digitally converted andprocessed by fast convolution filters to obtain a power spectrum. Thisprocess may also provide spectrum measurements including the signalpower, the bandwidth, the center frequency of the signal as well as aTime of Arrival (TOA) measurement. The TOA measurement may be used tocreate a timestamp of the detected signal and/or to generate a timedifference of arrival iterative process for direction finding and fasttriangulation of signals. In an embodiment, the sample data may beprovided to a spectrum analysis module. In an embodiment, the spectrumanalysis module may evaluate the sample data to obtain the spectralcomponents of the signal.

In an embodiment, the spectral components of the signal may be obtainedby the spectrum analysis module from the raw I/Q data as provided by anRF translator. The I/Q data analysis performed by the spectrum analysismodule may operate to extract more detailed information about thesignal, including by way of example, modulation type (e.g., FM, AM,QPSK, 16QAM, etc.) and/or protocol (e.g., GSM, CDMA, OFDM, LTE, etc.).In an embodiment, the spectrum analysis module may be configured by auser to obtain specific information about a signal of interest. In analternate embodiment, the spectral components of the signal may beobtained from power spectral component data produced by the spectralanalysis receiver.

In an embodiment, the spectrum analysis module may provide the spectralcomponents of the signal to a data extraction module. The dataextraction module may provide the classification and categorization ofsignals detected in the RF spectrum. The data extraction module may alsoacquire additional information regarding the signal from the spectralcomponents of the signal. For example, the data extraction module mayprovide modulation type, bandwidth, and possible system in useinformation. In another embodiment, the data extraction module mayselect and organize the extracted spectral components in a formatselected by a user.

The information from the data extraction module may be provided to aspectrum management module. The spectrum management module may generatea query to a static database to classify a signal based on itscomponents. For example, the information stored in static database maybe used to determine the spectral density, center frequency, bandwidth,baud rate, modulation type, protocol (e.g., GSM, CDMA, OFDM, LTE, etc.),system or carrier using licensed spectrum, location of the signalsource, and a timestamp of the signal of interest. These data points maybe provided to a data store for export. In an embodiment and as morefully described below, the data store may be configured to accessmapping software to provide the user with information on the location ofthe transmission source of the signal of interest. In an embodiment, thestatic database includes frequency information gathered from varioussources including, but not limited to, the Federal CommunicationCommission, the International Telecommunication Union, and data fromusers. As an example, the static database may be an SQL database. Thedata store may be updated, downloaded or merged with other devices orwith its main relational database. Software API applications may beincluded to allow database merging with third-party spectrum databasesthat may only be accessed securely.

In the various embodiments, the spectrum management device may beconfigured in different ways. In an embodiment, the front end of systemmay comprise various hardware receivers that may provide In-Phase andQuadrature complex data. The front end receiver may include API setcommands via which the system software may be configured to interface(i.e., communicate) with a third party receiver. In an embodiment, thefront end receiver may perform the spectral computations using FFT (FastFourier Transform) and other DSP (Digital Signal Processing) to generatea fast convolution periodogram that may be re-sampled and averaged toquickly compute the spectral density of the RF environment.

In an embodiment, cyclic processes may be used to average and correlatesignal information by extracting the changes inside the signal to betteridentify the signal of interest that is present in the RF space. Acombination of amplitude and frequency changes may be measured andaveraged over the bandwidth time to compute the modulation type andother internal changes, such as changes in frequency offsets, orthogonalfrequency division modulation, changes in time (e.g., Time DivisionMultiplexing), and/or changes in I/Q phase rotation used to compute thebaud rate and the modulation type. In an embodiment, the spectrummanagement device may have the ability to compute several processes inparallel by use of a multi-core processor and along with severalembedded field programmable gate arrays (FPGA). Such multi-coreprocessing may allow the system to quickly analyze several signalparameters in the RF environment at one time in order to reduce theamount of time it takes to process the signals. The amount of signalscomputed at once may be determined by their bandwidth requirements.Thus, the capability of the system may be based on a maximum frequencyFs/2. The number of signals to be processed may be allocated based ontheir respective bandwidths. In another embodiment, the signal spectrummay be measured to determine its power density, center frequency,bandwidth and location from which the signal is emanating and a bestmatch may be determined based on the signal parameters based oninformation criteria of the frequency.

In another embodiment, a GPS and direction finding location (DF) systemmay be incorporated into the spectrum management device and/or availableto the spectrum management device. Adding GPS and DF ability may enablethe user to provide a location vector using the National MarineElectronics Association's (NMEA) standard form. In an embodiment,location functionality is incorporated into a specific type of GPS unit,such as a U.S. government issued receiver. The information may bederived from the location presented by the database internal to thedevice, a database imported into the device, or by the user inputtinggeo-location parameters of longitude and latitude which may be derivedas degrees, minutes and seconds, decimal minutes, or decimal form andtranslated to the necessary format with the default being ‘decimal’form. This functionality may be incorporated into a GPS unit. The signalinformation and the signal classification may then be used to locate thesignaling device as well as to provide a direction finding capability.

A type of triangulation using three units as a group antennaconfiguration performs direction finding by using multilateration.Commonly used in civil and military surveillance applications,multilateration is able to accurately locate an aircraft, vehicle, orstationary emitter by measuring the “Time Difference of Arrival” (TDOA)of a signal from the emitter at three or more receiver sites. If a pulseis emitted from a platform, it will arrive at slightly different timesat two spatially separated receiver sites, the TDOA being due to thedifferent distances of each receiver from the platform. This locationinformation may then be supplied to a mapping process that utilizes adatabase of mapping images that are extracted from the database based onthe latitude and longitude provided by the geo-location or directionfinding device. The mapping images may be scanned in to show the pointsof interest where a signal is either expected to be emanating from basedon the database information or from an average taken from the databaseinformation and the geo-location calculation performed prior to themapping software being called. The user can control the map to maximizeor minimize the mapping screen to get a better view which is more fit toprovide information of the signal transmissions. In an embodiment, themapping process does not rely on outside mapping software. The mappingcapability has the ability to generate the map image and to populate amapping database that may include information from third party maps tomeet specific user requirements.

In an embodiment, triangulation and multilateration may utilize aBayesian type filter that may predict possible movement and futurelocation and operation of devices based on input collected from the TDOAand geolocation processes and the variables from the static databasepertaining to the specified signal of interest. The Bayesian filtertakes the input changes in time difference and its inverse function(i.e., frequency difference) and takes an average change in signalvariation to detect and predict the movement of the signals. The signalchanges are measured within 1 ns time difference and the filter may alsoadapt its gradient error calculation to remove unwanted signals that maycause errors due to signal multipath, inter-symbol interference, andother signal noise.

In an embodiment the changes within a 1 ns time difference for eachsample for each unique signal may be recorded. The spectrum managementdevice may then perform the inverse and compute and record the frequencydifference and phase difference between each sample for each uniquesignal. The spectrum management device may take the same signal andcalculates an error based on other input signals coming in within the 1ns time and may average and filter out the computed error to equalizethe signal. The spectrum management device may determine the timedifference and frequency difference of arrival for that signal andcompute the odds of where the signal is emanating from based on thefrequency band parameters presented from the spectral analysis andprocessor computations, and determines the best position from which thesignal is transmitted (i.e., origin of the signal).

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless environment 100 suitable for use with thevarious embodiments. The wireless environment 100 may include varioussources 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, and 114 generating various radiofrequency (RF) signals 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126. As an example,mobile devices 104 may generate cellular RF signals 116, such as CDMA,GSM, 3G signals, etc. As another example, wireless access devices 106,such as Wi-Fi® routers, may generate RF signals 118, such as Wi-Fi®signals. As a further example, satellites 108, such as communicationsatellites or GPS satellites, may generate RF signals 120, such assatellite radio, television, or GPS signals. As a still further example,base stations 110, such as a cellular base station, may generate RFsignals 122, such as CDMA, GSM, 3G signals, etc. As another example,radio towers 112, such as local AM or FM radio stations, may generate RFsignals 124, such as AM or FM radio signals. As another example,government service provides 114, such as police units, fire fighters,military units, air traffic control towers, etc. may generate RF signals126, such as radio communications, tracking signals, etc. The various RFsignals 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126 may be generated at differentfrequencies, power levels, in different protocols, with differentmodulations, and at different times. The various sources 104, 106, 108,110, 112, and 114 may be assigned frequency bands, power limitations, orother restrictions, requirements, and/or licenses by a governmentspectrum control entity, such as the FCC. However, with so manydifferent sources 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, and 114 generating so manydifferent RF signals 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, overlaps,interference, and/or other problems may occur. A spectrum managementdevice 102 in the wireless environment 100 may measure the RF energy inthe wireless environment 100 across a wide spectrum and identify thedifferent RF signals 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126 which may be presentin the wireless environment 100. The identification and cataloging ofthe different RF signals 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126 which may bepresent in the wireless environment 100 may enable the spectrummanagement device 102 to determine available frequencies for use in thewireless environment 100. In addition, the spectrum management device102 may be able to determine if there are available frequencies for usein the wireless environment 100 under certain conditions (i.e., day ofweek, time of day, power level, frequency band, etc.). In this manner,the RF spectrum in the wireless environment 100 may be managed.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram of a spectrum management device 202 accordingto an embodiment. The spectrum management device 202 may include anantenna structure 204 configured to receive RF energy expressed in awireless environment. The antenna structure 204 may be any type antenna,and may be configured to optimize the receipt of RF energy across a widefrequency spectrum. The antenna structure 204 may be connected to one ormore optional amplifiers and/or filters 208 which may boost, smooth,and/or filter the RF energy received by antenna structure 204 before theRF energy is passed to an RF receiver 210 connected to the antennastructure 204. In an embodiment, the RF receiver 210 may be configuredto measure the RF energy received from the antenna structure 204 and/oroptional amplifiers and/or filters 208. In an embodiment, the RFreceiver 210 may be configured to measure RF energy in the time domainand may convert the RF energy measurements to the frequency domain. Inan embodiment, the RF receiver 210 may be configured to generatespectral representation data of the received RF energy. The RF receiver210 may be any type RF receiver, and may be configured to generate RFenergy measurements over a range of frequencies, such as 0 kHz to 24GHz, 9 kHz to 6 GHz, etc. In an embodiment, the frequency scanned by theRF receiver 210 may be user selectable. In an embodiment, the RFreceiver 210 may be connected to a signal processor 214 and may beconfigured to output RF energy measurements to the signal processor 214.As an example, the RF receiver 210 may output raw In-Phase (I) andQuadrature (Q) data to the signal processor 214. As another example, theRF receiver 210 may apply signals processing techniques to outputcomplex In-Phase (I) and Quadrature (Q) data to the signal processor214. In an embodiment, the spectrum management device may also includean antenna 206 connected to a location receiver 212, such as a GPSreceiver, which may be connected to the signal processor 214. Thelocation receiver 212 may provide location inputs to the signalprocessor 214.

The signal processor 214 may include a signal detection module 216, acomparison module 222, a timing module 224, and a location module 225.Additionally, the signal processor 214 may include an optional memorymodule 226 which may include one or more optional buffers 228 forstoring data generated by the other modules of the signal processor 214.

In an embodiment, the signal detection module 216 may operate toidentify signals based on the RF energy measurements received from theRF receiver 210. The signal detection module 216 may include a FastFourier Transform (FFT) module 217 which may convert the received RFenergy measurements into spectral representation data. The signaldetection module 216 may include an analysis module 221 which mayanalyze the spectral representation data to identify one or more signalsabove a power threshold. A power module 220 of the signal detectionmodule 216 may control the power threshold at which signals may beidentified. In an embodiment, the power threshold may be a default powersetting or may be a user selectable power setting. A noise module 219 ofthe signal detection module 216 may control a signal threshold, such asa noise threshold, at or above which signals may be identified. Thesignal detection module 216 may include a parameter module 218 which maydetermine one or more signal parameters for any identified signals, suchas center frequency, bandwidth, power, number of detected signals,frequency peak, peak power, average power, signal duration, etc. In anembodiment, the signal processor 214 may include a timing module 224which may record time information and provide the time information tothe signal detection module 216. Additionally, the signal processor 214may include a location module 225 which may receive location inputs fromthe location receiver 212 and determine a location of the spectrummanagement device 202. The location of the spectrum management device202 may be provided to the signal detection module 216.

In an embodiment, the signal processor 214 may be connected to one ormore memory 230. The memory 230 may include multiple databases, such asa history or historical database 232 and characteristics listing 236,and one or more buffers 240 storing data generated by signal processor214. While illustrated as connected to the signal processor 214 thememory 230 may also be on chip memory residing on the signal processor214 itself. In an embodiment, the history or historical database 232 mayinclude measured signal data 234 for signals that have been previouslyidentified by the spectrum management device 202. The measured signaldata 234 may include the raw RF energy measurements, time stamps,location information, one or more signal parameters for any identifiedsignals, such as center frequency, bandwidth, power, number of detectedsignals, frequency peak, peak power, average power, signal duration,etc., and identifying information determined from the characteristicslisting 236. In an embodiment, the history or historical database 232may be updated as signals are identified by the spectrum managementdevice 202. In an embodiment, the characteristic listing 236 may be adatabase of static signal data 238. The static signal data 238 mayinclude data gathered from various sources including by way of exampleand not by way of limitation the Federal Communication Commission, theInternational Telecommunication Union, telecom providers, manufacturedata, and data from spectrum management device users. Static signal data238 may include known signal parameters of transmitting devices, such ascenter frequency, bandwidth, power, number of detected signals,frequency peak, peak power, average power, signal duration, geographicinformation for transmitting devices, and any other data that may beuseful in identifying a signal. In an embodiment, the static signal data238 and the characteristic listing 236 may correlate signal parametersand signal identifications. As an example, the static signal data 238and characteristic listing 236 may list the parameters of the local fireand emergency communication channel correlated with a signalidentification indicating that signal is the local fire and emergencycommunication channel.

In an embodiment, the signal processor 214 may include a comparisonmodule 222 which may match data generated by the signal detection module216 with data in the history or historical database 232 and/orcharacteristic listing 236. In an embodiment the comparison module 222may receive signal parameters from the signal detection module 216, suchas center frequency, bandwidth, power, number of detected signals,frequency peak, peak power, average power, signal duration, and/orreceive parameter from the timing module 224 and/or location module 225.The parameter match module 223 may retrieve data from the history orhistorical database 232 and/or the characteristic listing 236 andcompare the retrieved data to any received parameters to identifymatches. Based on the matches the comparison module may identify thesignal. In an embodiment, the signal processor 214 may be optionallyconnected to a display 242, an input device 244, and/or networktransceiver 246. The display 242 may be controlled by the signalprocessor 214 to output spectral representations of received signals,signal characteristic information, and/or indications of signalidentifications on the display 242. In an embodiment, the input device244 may be any input device, such as a keyboard and/or knob, mouse,virtual keyboard or even voice recognition, enabling the user of thespectrum management device 202 to input information for use by thesignal processor 214. In an embodiment, the network transceiver 246 mayenable the spectrum management device 202 to exchange data with wiredand/or wireless networks, such as to update the characteristic listing236 and/or upload information from the history or historical database232.

FIG. 2B is a schematic logic flow block diagram illustrating logicaloperations which may be performed by a spectrum management device 202according to an embodiment. A receiver 210 may output RF energymeasurements, such as I and Q data to an FFT module 252 which maygenerate a spectral representation of the RF energy measurements whichmay be output on a display 242. The I and Q data may also be buffered ina buffer 256 and sent to a signal detection module 216. The signaldetection module 216 may receive location inputs from a locationreceiver 212 and use the received I and Q data to detect signals. Datafrom the signal detection module 216 may be buffered in a buffer 262 andwritten into a history or historical database 232. Additionally, datafrom the historical database may be used to aid in the detection ofsignals by the signal detection module 216. The signal parameters of thedetected signals may be determined by a signal parameters module 218using information from the history or historical database 232 and/or astatic database 238 listing signal characteristics through a buffer 268.Data from the signal parameters module 218 may be stored in the historyor historical database 232 and/or sent to the signal detection module216 and/or display 242. In this manner, signals may be detected andindications of the signal identification may be displayed to a user ofthe spectrum management device.

FIG. 3 illustrates a process flow of an embodiment method 300 foridentifying a signal. In an embodiment the operations of method 300 maybe performed by the processor 214 of a spectrum management device 202.In block 302 the processor 214 may determine the location of thespectrum management device 202. In an embodiment, the processor 214 maydetermine the location of the spectrum management device 202 based on alocation input, such as GPS coordinates, received from a locationreceiver, such as a GPS receiver 212. In block 304 the processor 214 maydetermine the time. As an example, the time may be the current clocktime as determined by the processor 214 and may be a time associatedwith receiving RF measurements. In block 306 the processor 214 mayreceive RF energy measurements. In an embodiment, the processor 214 mayreceive RF energy measurements from an RF receiver 210. In block 308 theprocessor 214 may convert the RF energy measurements to spectralrepresentation data. As an example, the processor may apply a FastFourier Transform (FFT) to the RF energy measurements to convert them tospectral representation data. In optional block 310 the processor 214may display the spectral representation data on a display 242 of thespectrum management device 202, such as in a graph illustratingamplitudes across a frequency spectrum.

In block 312 the processor 214 may identify one or more signal above athreshold. In an embodiment, the processor 214 may analyze the spectralrepresentation data to identify a signal above a power threshold. Apower threshold may be an amplitude measure selected to distinguish RFenergies associated with actual signals from noise. In an embodiment,the power threshold may be a default value. In another embodiment, thepower threshold may be a user selectable value. In block 314 theprocessor 214 may determine signal parameters of any identified signalor signals of interest. As examples, the processor 214 may determinesignal parameters such as center frequency, bandwidth, power, number ofdetected signals, frequency peak, peak power, average power, signalduration for the identified signals. In block 316 the processor 214 maystore the signal parameters of each identified signal, a locationindication, and time indication for each identified signal in a historydatabase 232. In an embodiment, a history database 232 may be a databaseresident in a memory 230 of the spectrum management device 202 which mayinclude data associated with signals actually identified by the spectrummanagement device.

In block 318 the processor 214 may compare the signal parameters of eachidentified signal to signal parameters in a signal characteristiclisting. In an embodiment, the signal characteristic listing may be astatic database 238 stored in the memory 230 of the spectrum managementdevice 202 which may correlate signal parameters and signalidentifications. In determination block 320 the processor 214 maydetermine whether the signal parameters of the identified signal orsignals match signal parameters in the characteristic listing 236. In anembodiment, a match may be determined based on the signal parametersbeing within a specified tolerance of one another. As an example, acenter frequency match may be determined when the center frequencies arewithin plus or minus 1 kHz of each other. In this manner, differencesbetween real world measured conditions of an identified signal and idealconditions listed in a characteristics listing may be accounted for inidentifying matches. If the signal parameters do not match (i.e.,determination block 320=“No”), in block 326 the processor 214 maydisplay an indication that the signal is unidentified on a display 242of the spectrum management device 202. In this manner, the user of thespectrum management device may be notified that a signal is detected,but has not been positively identified. If the signal parameters domatch (i.e., determination block 320=“Yes”), in block 324 the processor214 may display an indication of the signal identification on thedisplay 242. In an embodiment, the signal identification displayed maybe the signal identification correlated to the signal parameter in thesignal characteristic listing which matched the signal parameter for theidentified signal. Upon displaying the indications in blocks 324 or 326the processor 214 may return to block 302 and cyclically measure andidentify further signals of interest.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment method 400 for measuring sample blocksof a radio frequency scan. In an embodiment the operations of method 400may be performed by the processor 214 of a spectrum management device202. As discussed above, in blocks 306 and 308 the processor 214 mayreceive RF energy measurements and convert the RF energy measurements tospectral representation data. In block 402 the processor 214 maydetermine a frequency range at which to sample the RF spectrum forsignals of interest. In an embodiment, a frequency range may be afrequency range of each sample block to be analyzed for potentialsignals. As an example, the frequency range may be 240 kHz. In anembodiment, the frequency range may be a default value. In anotherembodiment, the frequency range may be a user selectable value. In block404 the processor 214 may determine a number (N) of sample blocks tomeasure. In an embodiment, each sample block may be sized to thedetermined of default frequency range, and the number of sample blocksmay be determined by dividing the spectrum of the measured RF energy bythe frequency range. In block 406 the processor 214 may assign eachsample block a respective frequency range. As an example, if thedetermined frequency range is 240 kHz, the first sample block may beassigned a frequency range from 0 kHz to 240 kHz, the second sampleblock may be assigned a frequency range from 240 kHz to 480 kHz, etc. Inblock 408 the processor 214 may set the lowest frequency range sampleblock as the current sample block. In block 409 the processor 214 maymeasure the amplitude across the set frequency range for the currentsample block. As an example, at each frequency interval (such as 1 Hz)within the frequency range of the sample block the processor 214 maymeasure the received signal amplitude. In block 410 the processor 214may store the amplitude measurements and corresponding frequencies forthe current sample block. In determination block 414 the processor 214may determine if all sample blocks have been measured. If all sampleblocks have not been measured (i.e., determination block 414=“No”), inblock 416 the processor 214 may set the next highest frequency rangesample block as the current sample block. As discussed above, in blocks409, 410, and 414 the processor 214 may measure and store amplitudes anddetermine whether all blocks are sampled. If all blocks have beensampled (i.e., determination block 414=“Yes”), the processor 214 mayreturn to block 306 and cyclically measure further sample blocks.

FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C illustrate the process flow for an embodimentmethod 500 for determining signal parameters. In an embodiment theoperations of method 500 may be performed by the processor 214 of aspectrum management device 202. Referring to FIG. 5A, in block 502 theprocessor 214 may receive a noise floor average setting. In anembodiment, the noise floor average setting may be an average noiselevel for the environment in which the spectrum management device 202 isoperating. In an embodiment, the noise floor average setting may be adefault setting and/or may be user selectable setting. In block 504 theprocessor 214 may receive the signal power threshold setting. In anembodiment, the signal power threshold setting may be an amplitudemeasure selected to distinguish RF energies associated with actualsignals from noise. In an embodiment the signal power threshold may be adefault value and/or may be a user selectable setting. In block 506 theprocessor 214 may load the next available sample block. In anembodiment, the sample blocks may be assembled according to theoperations of method 400 described above with reference to FIG. 4 . Inan embodiment, the next available sample block may be an oldest in timesample block which has not been analyzed to determine whether signals ofinterest are present in the sample block. In block 508 the processor 214may average the amplitude measurements in the sample block. Indetermination block 510 the processor 214 may determine whether theaverage for the sample block is greater than or equal to the noise flooraverage set in block 502. In this manner, sample blocks includingpotential signals may be quickly distinguished from sample blocks whichmay not include potential signals reducing processing time by enablingsample blocks without potential signals to be identified and ignored. Ifthe average for the sample block is lower than the noise floor average(i.e., determination block 510=“No”), no signals of interest may bepresent in the current sample block. In determination block 514 theprocessor 214 may determine whether a cross block flag is set. If thecross block flag is not set (i.e., determination block 514=“No”), inblock 506 the processor 214 may load the next available sample block andin block 508 average the sample block 508.

If the average of the sample block is equal to or greater than the noisefloor average (i.e., determination block 510=“Yes”), the sample blockmay potentially include a signal of interest and in block 512 theprocessor 214 may reset a measurement counter (C) to 1. The measurementcounter value indicating which sample within a sample block is underanalysis. In determination block 516 the processor 214 may determinewhether the RF measurement of the next frequency sample (C) is greaterthan the signal power threshold. In this manner, the value of themeasurement counter (C) may be used to control which sample RFmeasurement in the sample block is compared to the signal powerthreshold. As an example, when the counter (C) equals 1, the first RFmeasurement may be checked against the signal power threshold and whenthe counter (C) equals 2 the second RF measurement in the sample blockmay be checked, etc. If the C RF measurement is less than or equal tothe signal power threshold (i.e., determination block 516=“No”), indetermination block 517 the processor 214 may determine whether thecross block flag is set. If the cross block flag is not set (i.e.,determination block 517=“No”), in determination block 522 the processor214 may determine whether the end of the sample block is reached. If theend of the sample block is reached (i.e., determination block522=“Yes”), in block 506 the processor 214 may load the next availablesample block and proceed in blocks 508, 510, 514, and 512 as discussedabove. If the end of the sample block is not reached (i.e.,determination block 522=“No”), in block 524 the processor 214 mayincrement the measurement counter (C) so that the next sample in thesample block is analyzed.

If the C RF measurement is greater than the signal power threshold(i.e., determination block 516=“Yes”), in block 518 the processor 214may check the status of the cross block flag to determine whether thecross block flag is set. If the cross block flag is not set (i.e.,determination block 518=“No”), in block 520 the processor 214 may set asample start. As an example, the processor 214 may set a sample start byindicating a potential signal of interest may be discovered in a memoryby assigning a memory location for RF measurements associated with thesample start. Referring to FIG. 5B, in block 526 the processor 214 maystore the C RF measurement in a memory location for the sample currentlyunder analysis. In block 528 the processor 214 may increment themeasurement counter (C) value.

In determination block 530 the processor 214 may determine whether the CRF measurement (e.g., the next RF measurement because the value of theRF measurement counter was incremented) is greater than the signal powerthreshold. If the C RF measurement is greater than the signal powerthreshold (i.e., determination block 530=“Yes”), in determination block532 the processor 214 may determine whether the end of the sample blockis reached. If the end of the sample block is not reached (i.e.,determination block 532=“No”), there may be further RF measurementsavailable in the sample block and in block 526 the processor 214 maystore the C RF measurement in the memory location for the sample. Inblock 528 the processor may increment the measurement counter (C) and indetermination block 530 determine whether the C RF measurement is abovethe signal power threshold and in block 532 determine whether the end ofthe sample block is reached. In this manner, successive sample RFmeasurements may be checked against the signal power threshold andstored until the end of the sample block is reached and/or until asample RF measurement falls below the signal power threshold. If the endof the sample block is reached (i.e., determination block 532=“Yes”), inblock 534 the processor 214 may set the cross block flag. In anembodiment, the cross block flag may be a flag in a memory available tothe processor 214 indicating the signal potential spans across two ormore sample blocks. In a further embodiment, prior to setting the crossblock flag in block 534, the slope of a line drawn between the last twoRF measurement samples may be used to determine whether the next sampleblock likely contains further potential signal samples. A negative slopemay indicate that the signal of interest is fading and may indicate thelast sample was the final sample of the signal of interest. In anotherembodiment, the slope may not be computed and the next sample block maybe analyzed regardless of the slope.

If the end of the sample block is reached (i.e., determination block532=“Yes”) and in block 534 the cross block flag is set, referring toFIG. 5A, in block 506 the processor 214 may load the next availablesample block, in block 508 may average the sample block, and in block510 determine whether the average of the sample block is greater than orequal to the noise floor average. If the average is equal to or greaterthan the noise floor average (i.e., determination block 510=“Yes”), inblock 512 the processor 214 may reset the measurement counter (C) to 1.In determination block 516 the processor 214 may determine whether the CRF measurement for the current sample block is greater than the signalpower threshold. If the C RF measurement is greater than the signalpower threshold (i.e., determination block 516=“Yes”), in determinationblock 518 the processor 214 may determine whether the cross block flagis set. If the cross block flag is set (i.e., determination block518=“Yes”), referring to FIG. 5B, in block 526 the processor 214 maystore the C RF measurement in the memory location for the sample and inblock 528 the processor may increment the measurement counter (C). Asdiscussed above, in blocks 530 and 532 the processor 214 may performoperations to determine whether the C RF measurement is greater than thesignal power threshold and whether the end of the sample block isreached until the C RF measurement is less than or equal to the signalpower threshold (i.e., determination block 530=“No”) or the end of thesample block is reached (i.e., determination block 532=“Yes”). If theend of the sample block is reached (i.e., determination block532=“Yes”), as discussed above in block 534 the cross block flag may beset (or verified and remain set if already set) and in block 535 the CRF measurement may be stored in the sample.

If the end of the sample block is reached (i.e., determination block532=“Yes”) and in block 534 the cross block flag is set, referring toFIG. 5A, the processor may perform operations of blocks 506, 508, 510,512, 516, and 518 as discussed above. If the average of the sample blockis less than the noise floor average (i.e., determination block510=“No”) and the cross block flag is set (i.e., determination block514=“Yes”), the C RF measurement is less than or equal to the signalpower threshold (i.e., determination block 516=“No”) and the cross blockflag is set (i.e., determination block 517=“Yes”), or the C RFmeasurement is less than or equal to the signal power threshold (i.e.,determination block 516=“No”), referring to FIG. 5B, in block 538 theprocessor 214 may set the sample stop. As an example, the processor 214may indicate that a sample end is reached in a memory and/or that asample is complete in a memory. In block 540 the processor 214 maycompute and store complex I and Q data for the stored measurements inthe sample. In block 542 the processor 214 may determine a mean of thecomplex I and Q data. Referring to FIG. 5C, in determination block 544the processor 214 may determine whether the mean of the complex I and Qdata is greater than a signal threshold. If the mean of the complex Iand Q data is less than or equal to the signal threshold (i.e.,determination block 544=“No”), in block 550 the processor 214 mayindicate the sample is noise and discard data associated with the samplefrom memory.

If the mean is greater than the signal threshold (i.e., determinationblock 544=“Yes”), in block 546 the processor 214 may identify the sampleas a signal of interest. In an embodiment, the processor 214 mayidentify the sample as a signal of interest by assigning a signalidentifier to the signal, such as a signal number or sample number. Inblock 548 the processor 214 may determine and store signal parametersfor the signal. As an example, the processor 214 may determine and storea frequency peak of the identified signal, a peak power of theidentified signal, an average power of the identified signal, a signalbandwidth of the identified signal, and/or a signal duration of theidentified signal. In block 552 the processor 214 may clear the crossblock flag (or verify that the cross block flag is unset). In block 556the processor 214 may determine whether the end of the sample block isreached. If the end of the sample block is not reached (i.e.,determination block 556=“No”) in block 558 the processor 214 mayincrement the measurement counter (C), and referring to FIG. 5A indetermination block 516 may determine whether the C RF measurement isgreater than the signal power threshold. Referring to FIG. 5C, if theend of the sample block is reached (i.e., determination block556=“Yes”), referring to FIG. 5A, in block 506 the processor 214 mayload the next available sample block.

FIG. 6 illustrates a process flow for an embodiment method 600 fordisplaying signal identifications. In an embodiment, the operations ofmethod 600 may be performed by a processor 214 of a spectrum managementdevice 202. In determination block 602 the processor 214 may determinewhether a signal is identified. If a signal is not identified (i.e.,determination block 602=“No”), in block 604 the processor 214 may waitfor the next scan. If a signal is identified (i.e., determination block602=“Yes”), in block 606 the processor 214 may compare the signalparameters of an identified signal to signal parameters in a historydatabase 232. In determination block 608 the processor 214 may determinewhether signal parameters of the identified signal match signalparameters in the history database 232. If there is no match (i.e.,determination block 608=“No”), in block 610 the processor 214 may storethe signal parameters as a new signal in the history database 232. Ifthere is a match (i.e., determination block 608=“Yes”), in block 612 theprocessor 214 may update the matching signal parameters as needed in thehistory database 232.

In block 614 the processor 214 may compare the signal parameters of theidentified signal to signal parameters in a signal characteristiclisting 236. In an embodiment, the characteristic listing 236 may be astatic database separate from the history database 232, and thecharacteristic listing 236 may correlate signal parameters with signalidentifications. In determination block 616 the processor 214 maydetermine whether the signal parameters of the identified signal matchany signal parameters in the signal characteristic listing 236. In anembodiment, the match in determination 616 may be a match based on atolerance between the signal parameters of the identified signal and theparameters in the characteristic listing 236. If there is a match (i.e.,determination block 616=“Yes”), in block 618 the processor 214 mayindicate a match in the history database 232 and in block 622 maydisplay an indication of the signal identification on a display 242. Asan example, the indication of the signal identification may be a displayof the radio call sign of an identified FM radio station signal. Ifthere is not a match (i.e., determination block 616=“No”), in block 620the processor 214 may display an indication that the signal is anunidentified signal. In this manner, the user may be notified a signalis present in the environment, but that the signal does not match to asignal in the characteristic listing.

FIG. 7 illustrates a process flow of an embodiment method 700 fordisplaying one or more open frequency. In an embodiment, the operationsof method 700 may be performed by the processor 214 of a spectrummanagement device 202. In block 702 the processor 214 may determine acurrent location of the spectrum management device 202. In anembodiment, the processor 214 may determine the current location of thespectrum management device 202 based on location inputs received from alocation receiver 212, such as GPS coordinates received from a GPSreceiver 212. In block 704 the processor 214 may compare the currentlocation to the stored location value in the historical database 232. Asdiscussed above, the historical or history database 232 may be adatabase storing information about signals previously actuallyidentified by the spectrum management device 202. In determination block706 the processor 214 may determine whether there are any matchesbetween the location information in the historical database 232 and thecurrent location. If there are no matches (i.e., determination block706=“No”), in block 710 the processor 214 may indicate incomplete datais available. In other words the spectrum data for the current locationhas not previously been recorded.

If there are matches (i.e., determination block 706=“Yes”), in optionalblock 708 the processor 214 may display a plot of one or more of thesignals matching the current location. As an example, the processor 214may compute the average frequency over frequency intervals across agiven spectrum and may display a plot of the average frequency over eachinterval. In block 712 the processor 214 may determine one or more openfrequencies at the current location. As an example, the processor 214may determine one or more open frequencies by determining frequencyranges in which no signals fall or at which the average is below athreshold. In block 714 the processor 214 may display an indication ofone or more open frequency on a display 242 of the spectrum managementdevice 202.

FIG. 8A is a block diagram of a spectrum management device 802 accordingto an embodiment. Spectrum management device 802 is similar to spectrummanagement device 202 described above with reference to FIG. 2A, exceptthat spectrum management device 802 may include symbol module 816 andprotocol module 806 enabling the spectrum management device 802 toidentify the protocol and symbol information associated with anidentified signal as well as protocol match module 814 to match protocolinformation. Additionally, the characteristic listing 236 of spectrummanagement device 802 may include protocol data 804, hardware data 808,environment data 810, and noise data 812 and an optimization module 818may enable the signal processor 214 to provide signal optimizationparameters.

The protocol module 806 may identify the communication protocol (e.g.,LTE, CDMA, etc.) associated with a signal of interest. In an embodiment,the protocol module 806 may use data retrieved from the characteristiclisting, such as protocol data 804 to help identify the communicationprotocol. The symbol detector module 816 may determine symbol timinginformation, such as a symbol rate for a signal of interest. Theprotocol module 806 and/or symbol module 816 may provide data to thecomparison module 222. The comparison module 222 may include a protocolmatch module 814 which may attempt to match protocol information for asignal of interest to protocol data 804 in the characteristic listing toidentify a signal of interest. Additionally, the protocol module 806and/or symbol module 816 may store data in the memory module 226 and/orhistory database 232. In an embodiment, the protocol module 806 and/orsymbol module 816 may use protocol data 804 and/or other data from thecharacteristic listing 236 to help identify protocols and/or symbolinformation in signals of interest.

The optimization module 818 may gather information from thecharacteristic listing, such as noise figure parameters, antennahardware parameters, and environmental parameters correlated with anidentified signal of interest to calculate a degradation value for theidentified signal of interest. The optimization module 818 may furthercontrol the display 242 to output degradation data enabling a user ofthe spectrum management device 802 to optimize a signal of interest.

FIG. 8B is a schematic logic flow block diagram illustrating logicaloperations which may be performed by a spectrum management deviceaccording to an embodiment. Only those logical operations illustrated inFIG. 8B different from those described above with reference to FIG. 2Bwill be discussed. As illustrated in FIG. 8B, as received time tracking850 may be applied to the I and Q data from the receiver 210. Anadditional buffer 851 may further store the I and Q data received and asymbol detector 852 may identify the symbols of a signal of interest anddetermine the symbol rate. A multiple access scheme identifier module854 may identify whether the signal is part of a multiple access scheme(e.g., CDMA), and a protocol identifier module 856 may attempt toidentify the protocol the signal of interested is associated with. Themultiple access scheme identifier module 854 and protocol identifiermodule 856 may retrieve data from the static database 238 to aid in theidentification of the access scheme and/or protocol. The symbol detectormodule 852 may pass data to the signal parameter and protocol module 858which may store protocol and symbol information in addition to signalparameter information for signals of interest.

FIG. 9 illustrates a process flow of an embodiment method 900 fordetermining protocol data and symbol timing data. In an embodiment, theoperations of method 900 may be performed by the processor 214 of aspectrum management device 802. In determination block 902 the processor214 may determine whether two or more signals are detected. If two ormore signals are not detected (i.e., determination block 902=“No”), indetermination block 902 the processor 214 may continue to determinewhether two or more signals are detected. If two or more signals aredetected (i.e., determination block 902=“Yes”), in determination block904 the processor 214 may determine whether the two or more signals areinterrelated. In an embodiment, a mean correlation value of the spectraldecomposition of each signal may indicate the two or more signals areinterrelated. As an example, a mean correlation of each signal maygenerate a value between 0.0 and 1, and the processor 214 may comparethe mean correlation value to a threshold, such as a threshold of 0.75.In such an example, a mean correlation value at or above the thresholdmay indicate the signals are interrelated while a mean correlation valuebelow the threshold may indicate the signals are not interrelated andmay be different signals. In an embodiment, the mean correlation valuemay be generated by running a full energy bandwidth correlation of eachsignal, measuring the values of signal transition for each signal, andfor each signal transition running a spectral correlation betweensignals to generate the mean correlation value. If the signals are notinterrelated (i.e., determination block 904=“No”), the signals may betwo or more different signals, and in block 907 processor 214 maymeasure the interference between the two or more signals. In an optionalembodiment, in optional block 909 the processor 214 may generate aconflict alarm indicating the two or more different signals interfere.In an embodiment, the conflict alarm may be sent to the history databaseand/or a display. In determination block 902 the processor 214 maycontinue to determine whether two or more signals are detected. If thetwo signals are interrelated (i.e., determination block 904=“Yes”), inblock 905 the processor 214 may identify the two or more signals as asingle signal. In block 906 the processor 214 may combine signal datafor the two or more signals into a signal single entry in the historydatabase. In determination block 908 the processor 214 may determinewhether the signals mean averages. If the mean averages (i.e.,determination block 908=“Yes”), the processor 214 may identify thesignal as having multiple channels 910. If the mean does not average(i.e., determination block 908=“Yes”) or after identifying the signal ashaving multiple channels 910, in block 914 the processor 214 maydetermine and store protocol data for the signal. In block 916 theprocessor 214 may determine and store symbol timing data for the signal,and the method 900 may return to block 902.

FIG. 10 illustrates a process flow of an embodiment method 1000 forcalculating signal degradation data. In an embodiment, the operations ofmethod 1000 may be performed by the processor 214 of a spectrummanagement device 202. In block 1002 the processor may detect a signal.In block 1004 the processor 214 may match the signal to a signal in astatic database. In block 1006 the processor 214 may determine noisefigure parameters based on data in the static database 236 associatedwith the signal. As an example, the processor 214 may determine thenoise figure of the signal based on parameters of a transmitteroutputting the signal according to the static database 236. In block1008 the processor 214 may determine hardware parameters associated withthe signal in the static database 236. As an example, the processor 214may determine hardware parameters such as antenna position, powersettings, antenna type, orientation, azimuth, location, gain, andequivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) for the transmitterassociated with the signal from the static database 236. In block 1010processor 214 may determine environment parameters associated with thesignal in the static database 236. As an example, the processor 214 maydetermine environment parameters such as rain, fog, and/or haze based ona delta correction factor table stored in the static database and aprovided precipitation rate (e.g., mm/hr). In block 1012 the processor214 may calculate and store signal degradation data for the detectedsignal based at least in part on the noise figure parameters, hardwareparameters, and environmental parameters. As an example, based on thenoise figure parameters, hardware parameters, and environmentalparameters free space losses of the signal may be determined. In block1014 the processor 214 may display the degradation data on a display 242of the spectrum management device 202. In a further embodiment, thedegradation data may be used with measured terrain data of geographiclocations stored in the static database to perform pattern distortion,generate propagation and/or next neighbor interference models, determineinterference variables, and perform best fit modeling to aide in signaland/or system optimization.

FIG. 11 illustrates a process flow of an embodiment method 1100 fordisplaying signal and protocol identification information. In anembodiment, the operations of method 1100 may be performed by aprocessor 214 of a spectrum management device 202. In block 1102 theprocessor 214 may compare the signal parameters and protocol data of anidentified signal to signal parameters and protocol data in a historydatabase 232. In an embodiment, a history database 232 may be a databasestoring signal parameters and protocol data for previously identifiedsignals. In block 1104 the processor 214 may determine whether there isa match between the signal parameters and protocol data of theidentified signal and the signal parameters and protocol data in thehistory database 232. If there is not a match (i.e., determination block1104=“No”), in block 1106 the processor 214 may store the signalparameters and protocol data as a new signal in the history database232. If there is a match (i.e., determination block 1104=“Yes”), inblock 1108 the processor 214 may update the matching signal parametersand protocol data as needed in the history database 232.

In block 1110 the processor 214 may compare the signal parameters andprotocol data of the identified signal to signal parameters and protocoldata in the signal characteristic listing 236. In determination block1112 the processor 214 may determine whether the signal parameters andprotocol data of the identified signal match any signal parameters andprotocol data in the signal characteristic listing 236. If there is amatch (i.e., determination block 1112=“Yes”), in block 1114 theprocessor 214 may indicate a match in the history database and in block1118 may display an indication of the signal identification and protocolon a display. If there is not a match (i.e., determination block1112=“No”), in block 1116 the processor 214 may display an indicationthat the signal is an unidentified signal. In this manner, the user maybe notified a signal is present in the environment, but that the signaldoes not match to a signal in the characteristic listing.

FIG. 12A is a block diagram of a spectrum management device 1202according to an embodiment. Spectrum management device 1202 is similarto spectrum management device 802 described above with reference to FIG.8A, except that spectrum management device 1202 may include TDOA/FDOAmodule 1204 and modulation module 1206 enabling the spectrum managementdevice 1202 to identify the modulation type employed by a signal ofinterest and calculate signal origins. The modulation module 1206 mayenable the signal processor to determine the modulation applied tosignal, such as frequency modulation (e.g., FSK, MSK, etc.) or phasemodulation (e.g., BPSK, QPSK, QAM, etc.) as well as to demodulate thesignal to identify payload data carried in the signal. The modulationmodule 1206 may use payload data 1221 from the characteristic listing toidentify the data types carried in a signal. As examples, upondemodulating a portion of the signal the payload data may enable theprocessor 214 to determine whether voice data, video data, and/or textbased data is present in the signal. The TDOA/FDOA module 1204 mayenable the signal processor 214 to determine time difference of arrivalfor signals or interest and/or frequency difference of arrival forsignals of interest. Using the TDOA/FDOA information estimates of theorigin of a signal may be made and passed to a mapping module 1225 whichmay control the display 242 to output estimates of a position and/ordirection of movement of a signal.

FIG. 12B is a schematic logic flow block diagram illustrating logicaloperations which may be performed by a spectrum management deviceaccording to an embodiment. Only those logical operations illustrated inFIG. 12B different from those described above with reference to FIG. 8Bwill be discussed. A magnitude squared 1252 operation may be performedon data from the symbol detector 852 to identify whether frequency orphase modulation is present in the signal. Phase modulated signals maybe identified by the phase modulation 1254 processes and frequencymodulated signals may be identified by the frequency modulationprocesses 1256. The modulation information may be passed to a signalparameters, protocols, and modulation module 1258. In one embodiment, atime tracking and TDOA/FDOA module 1250 is applied to the I and Q datafrom the RF receiver 210 for determining TDOA and/or FDOA for signals ofinterest.

FIG. 13 illustrates a process flow of an embodiment method 1300 forestimating a signal origin based on a frequency difference of arrival.In an embodiment, the operations of method 1300 may be performed by aprocessor 214 of a spectrum management device 1202. In block 1302 theprocessor 214 may compute frequency arrivals and phase arrivals formultiple instances of an identified signal. In block 1304 the processor214 may determine frequency difference of arrival for the identifiedsignal based on the computed frequency difference and phase difference.In block 1306 the processor may compare the determined frequencydifference of arrival for the identified signal to data associated withknown emitters in the characteristic listing to estimate an identifiedsignal origin. In block 1308 the processor 214 may indicate theestimated identified signal origin on a display of the spectrummanagement device. As an example, the processor 214 may overlay theestimated origin on a map displayed by the spectrum management device.

FIG. 14 illustrates a process flow of an embodiment method fordisplaying an indication of an identified data type within a signal. Inan embodiment, the operations of method 1400 may be performed by aprocessor 214 of a spectrum management device 1202. In block 1402 theprocessor 214 may determine the signal parameters for an identifiedsignal of interest. In block 1404 the processor 214 may determine themodulation type for the signal of interest. In block 1406 the processor214 may determine the protocol data for the signal of interest. In block1408 the processor 214 may determine the symbol timing for the signal ofinterest. In block 1410 the processor 214 may select a payload schemebased on the determined signal parameters, modulation type, protocoldata, and symbol timing. As an example, the payload scheme may indicatehow data is transported in a signal. For example, data in over the airtelevision broadcasts may be transported differently than data incellular communications and the signal parameters, modulation type,protocol data, and symbol timing may identify the applicable payloadscheme to apply to the signal. In block 1412 the processor 214 may applythe selected payload scheme to identify the data type or types withinthe signal of interest. In this manner, the processor 214 may determinewhat type of data is being transported in the signal, such as voicedata, video data, and/or text based data. In block 1414 the processormay store the data type or types. In block 1416 the processor 214 maydisplay an indication of the identified data types.

FIG. 15 illustrates a process flow of an embodiment method 1500 fordetermining modulation type, protocol data, and symbol timing data.Method 1500 is similar to method 900 described above with reference toFIG. 9 , except that modulation type may also be determined. In anembodiment, the operations of method 1500 may be performed by aprocessor 214 of a spectrum management device 1202. In blocks 902, 904,905, 906, 908, and 910 the processor 214 may perform operations of likenumbered blocks of method 900 described above with reference to FIG. 9 .In block 1502 the processor may determine and store a modulation type.As an example, a modulation type may be an indication that the signal isfrequency modulated (e.g., FSK, MSK, etc.) or phase modulated (e.g.,BPSK, QPSK, QAM, etc.). As discussed above, in block 914 the processormay determine and store protocol data and in block 916 the processor maydetermine and store timing data.

In an embodiment, based on signal detection, a time tracking module,such as a TDOA/FDOA module 1204, may track the frequency repetitioninterval at which the signal is changing. The frequency repetitioninterval may also be tracked for a burst signal. In an embodiment, thespectrum management device may measure the signal environment and setanchors based on information stored in the historic or static databaseabout known transmitter sources and locations. In an embodiment, thephase information about a signal be extracted using a spectraldecomposition correlation equation to measure the angle of arrival(“AOA”) of the signal. In an embodiment, the processor of the spectrummanagement device may determine the received power as the ReceivedSignal Strength (“RSS”) and based on the AOA and RSS may measure thefrequency difference of arrival. In an embodiment, the frequency shiftof the received signal may be measured and aggregated over time. In anembodiment, after an initial sample of a signal, known transmittedsignals may be measured and compared to the RSS to determine frequencyshift error. In an embodiment, the processor of the spectrum managementdevice may compute a cross ambiguity function of aggregated changes inarrival time and frequency of arrival. In an additional embodiment, theprocessor of the spectrum management device may retrieve FFT data for ameasured signal and aggregate the data to determine changes in time ofarrival and frequency of arrival. In an embodiment, the signalcomponents of change in frequency of arrival may be averaged through aKalman filter with a weighted tap filter from 2 to 256 weights to removemeasurement error such as noise, multipath interference, etc. In anembodiment, frequency difference of arrival techniques may be appliedwhen either the emitter of the signal or the spectrum management deviceare moving or when then emitter of the signal and the spectrummanagement device are both stationary. When the emitter of the signaland the spectrum management device are both stationary the determinationof the position of the emitter may be made when at least four knownother known signal emitters positions are known and signalcharacteristics may be available. In an embodiment, a user may providethe four other known emitters and/or may use already in place knownemitters, and may use the frequency, bandwidth, power, and distancevalues of the known emitters and their respective signals. In anembodiment, where the emitter of the signal or spectrum managementdevice may be moving, frequency deference of arrival techniques may beperformed using two known emitters.

FIG. 16 illustrates an embodiment method for tracking a signal origin.In an embodiment, the operations of method 1600 may be performed by aprocessor 214 of a spectrum management device 1202. In block 1602 theprocessor 214 may determine a time difference of arrival for a signal ofinterest. In block 1604 the processor 214 may determine a frequencydifference of arrival for the signal interest. As an example, theprocessor 214 may take the inverse of the time difference of arrival todetermine the frequency difference of arrival of the signal of interest.In block 1606 the processor 214 may identify the location. As anexample, the processor 214 may determine the location based oncoordinates provided from a GPS receiver. In determination block 1608the processor 214 may determine whether there are at least four knownemitters present in the identified location. As an example, theprocessor 214 may compare the geographic coordinates for the identifiedlocation to a static database and/or historical database to determinewhether at least four known signals are within an area associated withthe geographic coordinates. If at least four known emitters are present(i.e., determination block 1608=“Yes”), in block 1612 the processor 214may collect and measure the RSS of the known emitters and the signal ofinterest. As an example, the processor 214 may use the frequency,bandwidth, power, and distance values of the known emitters and theirrespective signals and the signal of interest. If less than four knownemitters are present (i.e., determination block 1608=“No”), in block1610 the processor 214 may measure the angle of arrival for the signalof interest and the known emitter. Using the RSS or angle or arrival, inblock 1614 the processor 214 may measure the frequency shift and inblock 1616 the processor 214 may obtain the cross ambiguity function. Indetermination block 1618 the processor 214 may determine whether thecross ambiguity function converges to a solution. If the cross ambiguityfunction does converge to a solution (i.e., determination block1618=“Yes”), in block 1620 the processor 214 may aggregate the frequencyshift data. In block 1622 the processor 214 may apply one or more filterto the aggregated data, such as a Kalman filter. Additionally, theprocessor 214 may apply equations, such as weighted least squaresequations and maximum likelihood equations, and additional filters, suchas a non-line-of-sight (“NLOS”) filters to the aggregated data. In anembodiment, the cross ambiguity function may resolve the position of theemitter of the signal of interest to within 3 meters. If the crossambiguity function does not converge to a solution (i.e., determinationblock 1618=“No”), in block 1624 the processor 214 may determine the timedifference of arrival for the signal and in block 1626 the processor 214may aggregate the time shift data. Additionally, the processor mayfilter the data to reduce interference. Whether based on frequencydifference of arrival or time difference of arrival, the aggregated andfiltered data may indicate a position of the emitter of the signal ofinterest, and in block 1628 the processor 214 may output the trackinginformation for the position of the emitter of the signal of interest toa display of the spectrum management device and/or the historicaldatabase. In an additional embodiment, location of emitters, time andduration of transmission at a location may be stored in the historydatabase such that historical information may be used to perform andpredict movement of signal transmission. In a further embodiment, theenvironmental factors may be considered to further reduce the measurederror and generate a more accurate measurement of the location of theemitter of the signal of interest.

The processor 214 of spectrum management devices 202, 802 and 1202 maybe any programmable microprocessor, microcomputer or multiple processorchip or chips that can be configured by software instructions(applications) to perform a variety of functions, including thefunctions of the various embodiments described above. In some devices,multiple processors may be provided, such as one processor dedicated towireless communication functions and one processor dedicated to runningother applications. Typically, software applications may be stored inthe internal memory 226 or 230 before they are accessed and loaded intothe processor 214. The processor 214 may include internal memorysufficient to store the application software instructions. In manydevices the internal memory may be a volatile or nonvolatile memory,such as flash memory, or a mixture of both. For the purposes of thisdescription, a general reference to memory refers to memory accessibleby the processor 214 including internal memory or removable memoryplugged into the device and memory within the processor 214 itself

Identifying Devices in White Space.

The present invention provides for systems, methods, and apparatussolutions for device sensing in white space, which improves upon theprior art by identifying sources of signal emission by automaticallydetecting signals and creating unique signal profiles. Device sensinghas an important function and applications in military and otherintelligence sectors, where identifying the emitter device is crucialfor monitoring and surveillance, including specific emitteridentification (SEI).

At least two key functions are provided by the present invention: signalisolation and device sensing. Signal Isolation according to the presentinvention is a process whereby a signal is detected, isolated throughfiltering and amplification, amongst other methods, and keycharacteristics extracted. Device Sensing according to the presentinvention is a process whereby the detected signals are matched to adevice through comparison to device signal profiles and may includeapplying a confidence level and/or rating to the signal-profilematching. Further, device sensing covers technologies that permitstorage of profile comparisons such that future matching can be donewith increased efficiency and/or accuracy. The present inventionsystems, methods, and apparatus are constructed and configuredfunctionally to identify any signal emitting device, including by way ofexample and not limitation, a radio, a cell phone, etc.

Regarding signal isolation, the following functions are included in thepresent invention: amplifying, filtering, detecting signals throughenergy detection, waveform-based, spectral correlation-based, radioidentification-based, or matched filter method, identifyinginterference, identifying environmental baseline(s), and/or identifysignal characteristics.

Regarding device sensing, the following functions are included in thepresent invention: using signal profiling and/or comparison with knowndatabase(s) and previously recorded profile(s), identifying the expecteddevice or emitter, stating the level of confidence for theidentification, and/or storing profiling and sensing information forimproved algorithms and matching. In preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, the identification of the at least one signalemitting device is accurate to a predetermined degree of confidencebetween about 80 and about 95 percent, and more preferably between about80 and about 100 percent. The confidence level or degree of confidenceis based upon the amount of matching measured data compared withhistorical data and/or reference data for predetermined frequency andother characteristics.

The present invention provides for wireless signal-emitting devicesensing in the white space based upon a measured signal, and considersthe basis of license(s) provided in at least one reference database,preferably the federal communication commission (FCC) and/or otherdefined database including license listings. The methods include thesteps of providing a device for measuring characteristics of signalsfrom signal emitting devices in a spectrum associated with wirelesscommunications, the characteristics of the measured data from the signalemitting devices including frequency, power, bandwidth, duration,modulation, and combinations thereof; making an assessment orcategorization on analog and/or digital signal(s); determining the bestfit based on frequency if the measured power spectrum is designated inhistorical and/or reference data, including but not limited to the FCCor other database(s) for select frequency ranges; determining analog ordigital, based on power and sideband combined with frequency allocation;determining a TDM/FDM/CDM signal, based on duration and bandwidth;determining best modulation fit for the desired signal, if the bandwidthand duration match the signal database(s); adding modulationidentification to the database; listing possible modulations with bestpercentage fit, based on the power, bandwidth, frequency, duration,database allocation, and combinations thereof; and identifying at leastone signal emitting device from the composite results of the foregoingsteps.

According to methods of the present invention, the following steps areperformed automatically by the apparatus unit(s): based on the measuredsignal(s), input the basis of the license provided in the FCC and/oruser defined database; measure the frequency, power, bandwidth, and/orduration of the measured signal(s); determine the best method ofmodulation identification; perform an assessment on analog or digitalsignal; if power spectrum is stored in designated FCC, historical,and/or user database frequency ranges, determine best fit based onfrequency; based on power and sideband combined with frequencyallocation, determine if analog or digital signal(s); based on durationand bandwidth determine a TDM/FDM/CDM signal; if bandwidth and durationmatch signal database then determine best modulation fit for the desiredsignal; and add modulation identification to the database and listpossible modulations with best percentage fit based on the power,bandwidth, frequency, and/or duration and database allocation.

In embodiments of the present invention, an apparatus is provided forautomatically identifying devices in a spectrum, the apparatus includinga housing, at least one processor and memory, and sensors constructedand configured for sensing and measuring wireless communications signalsfrom signal emitting devices in a spectrum associated with wirelesscommunications; and wherein the apparatus is operable to automaticallyanalyze the measured data to identify at least one signal emittingdevice in near real time from attempted detection and identification ofthe at least one signal emitting device. The characteristics of signalsand measured data from the signal emitting devices include frequency,power, bandwidth, duration, modulation, and combinations thereof.

The present invention systems including at least one apparatus, whereinthe at least one apparatus is operable for network-based communicationwith at least one server computer including a database, and/or with atleast one other apparatus, but does not require a connection to the atleast one server computer to be operable for identifying signal emittingdevices; wherein each of the apparatus is operable for identifyingsignal emitting devices including: a housing, at least one processor andmemory, and sensors constructed and configured for sensing and measuringwireless communications signals from signal emitting devices in aspectrum associated with wireless communications; and wherein theapparatus is operable to automatically analyze the measured data toidentify at least one signal emitting device in near real time fromattempted detection and identification of the at least one signalemitting device.

Identifying Open Space in a Wireless Communication Spectrum.

The present invention provides for systems, methods, and apparatussolutions for automatically identifying open space, including open spacein the white space of a wireless communication spectrum. Importantly,the present invention identifies the open space as the space that isunused and/or seldomly used (and identifies the owner of the licensesfor the seldomly used space, if applicable), including unlicensedspectrum, white space, guard bands, and combinations thereof. Methodsteps of the present invention include: automatically obtaining alisting or report of all frequencies in the frequency range; plotting aline and/or graph chart showing power and bandwidth activity; settingfrequencies based on a frequency step and/or resolution so that onlyuser-defined frequencies are plotted; generating a .csv or .pdf fileshowing the average and/or aggregated values of power, bandwidth andfrequency for each derived frequency step; and showing an activityreport over time, over day vs. night, over frequency bands if more thanone, in white space if requested, in ISM space if requested; and iffrequency space seldomly used in area list frequencies and licenseholders. Additional steps include: scanning the frequency span, whereina default scan includes a frequency span between about 54 MHz and about804 MHz; an ISM scan between about 900 MHz and about 2.5 GHz; an ISMscan between about 5 GHz and about 5.8 GHz; and/or a frequency rangebased upon inputs provided by a user. Also, method steps includescanning for an allotted amount of time between a minimum of about 15minutes up to about 30 days; preferably scanning for allotted timesselected from the following: a minimum of about 15 minutes; about 30minutes; about 1 hour increments; about 5 hour increments; about 10 hourincrements; about 24 hours; about 1 day; and about up to 30 days; andcombinations thereof. In preferred embodiments, if the apparatus isconfigured for automatically scanning for more than about 15 minutes,then the apparatus is preferably set for updating results, includingupdating graphs and/or reports for an approximately equal amount of time(e.g., every 15 minutes). The systems, methods, and apparatus alsoprovide for automatically calculating a percent activity on eachfrequency band.

Automated Reports and Visualization of Analytics.

Various reports for describing and illustrating with visualization thedata and analysis of the device, system and method results from spectrummanagement activities include at least reports on power usage, RFsurvey, and variance.

The systems, methods, and devices of the various embodiments enablespectrum management by identifying, classifying, and cataloging signalsof interest based on radio frequency measurements. In an embodiment,signals and the parameters of the signals may be identified andindications of available frequencies may be presented to a user. Inanother embodiment, the protocols of signals may also be identified. Ina further embodiment, the modulation of signals, devices or device typesemitting signals, data types carried by the signals, and estimatedsignal origins may be identified.

Referring again to the drawings, FIG. 17 is a schematic diagramillustrating an embodiment for scanning and finding open space. Aplurality of nodes are in wireless or wired communication with asoftware defined radio, which receives information concerning openchannels following real-time scanning and access to external databasefrequency information.

FIG. 18 is a diagram of an embodiment of the invention wherein softwaredefined radio nodes are in wireless or wired communication with a mastertransmitter and device sensing master.

FIG. 19 is a process flow diagram of an embodiment method of temporallydividing up data into intervals for power usage analysis and comparison.The data intervals are initially set to seconds, minutes, hours, daysand weeks, but can be adjusted to account for varying time periods(e.g., if an overall interval of data is only a week, the data intervaldivisions would not be weeks). In one embodiment, the interval slicingof data is used to produce power variance information and reports.

FIG. 20 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment wherein frequencyto license matching occurs. In such an embodiment the center frequencyand bandwidth criteria can be checked against a database to check for alicense match. Both licensed and unlicensed bands can be checked againstthe frequencies, and, if necessary, non-correlating factors can bemarked when a frequency is uncorrelated.

FIG. 21 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method forreporting power usage information, including locational data, databroken down by time intervals, frequency and power usage information perband, average power distribution, propagation models, atmosphericfactors, which is capable of being represented graphical,quantitatively, qualitatively, and overlaid onto a geographic ortopographic map.

FIG. 22 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method for creatingfrequency arrays. For each initialization, an embodiment of theinvention will determine a center frequency, bandwidth, peak power,noise floor level, resolution bandwidth, power and date/time. Start andend frequencies are calculated using the bandwidth and center frequencyand like frequencies are aggregated and sorted in order to produce a setof frequency arrays matching power measurements captured in each band.

FIG. 23 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method for reframeand aggregating power when producing frequency arrays.

FIG. 24 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method of reportinglicense expirations by accessing static or FCC databases.

FIG. 25 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method of reportingfrequency power use in graphical, chart, or report format, with theoption of adding frequencies from FCC or other databases.

FIG. 26 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method ofconnecting devices. After acquiring a GPS location, static and FCCdatabases are accessed to update license information, if available. Afrequency scan will find open spaces and detect interferences and/orcollisions. Based on the master device ID, set a random generated tokento select channel form available channel model and continually transmitID channel token. If node device reads ID, it will set itself to channelbased on token and device will connect to master device. Master devicewill then set frequency and bandwidth channel. For each device connectedto master, a frequency, bandwidth, and time slot in which to transmit isset. In one embodiment, these steps can be repeated until the max numberof devices is connected. As new devices are connected, the device listis updated with channel model and the device is set as active.Disconnected devices are set as inactive. If collision occurs, updatechannel model and get new token channel. Active scans will search fornew or lost devices and update devices list, channel model, and statusaccordingly. Channel model IDs are actively sent out for new or lostdevices.

FIG. 27 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method ofaddressing collisions.

FIG. 28 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the inventionillustrating a virtualized computing network and a plurality ofdistributed devices. FIG. 28 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment ofthe present invention, illustrating components of a cloud-basedcomputing system and network for distributed communication therewith bymobile communication devices. FIG. 28 illustrates an exemplaryvirtualized computing system for embodiments of the present inventionloyalty and rewards platform. As illustrated in FIG. 28 , a basicschematic of some of the key components of a virtualized computing (orcloud-based) system according to the present invention is shown. Thesystem 2800 comprises at least one remote server computer 2810 with aprocessing unit 2811 and memory. The server 2810 is constructed,configured and coupled to enable communication over a network 2850. Theserver provides for user interconnection with the server over thenetwork with the at least one apparatus as described hereinabove 2840positioned remotely from the server. Apparatus 2840 includes a memory2846, a CPU 2844, an operating system 2847, a bus 2842, an input/outputmodule 2848, and an output or display 2849. Furthermore, the system isoperable for a multiplicity of devices or apparatus embodiments 2860,2870 for example, in a client/server architecture, as shown, each havingoutputs or displays 2869 and 2979, respectively. Alternatively,interconnection through the network 2850 using the at least one deviceor apparatus for measuring signal emitting devices, each of the at leastone apparatus is operable for network-based communication. Also,alternative architectures may be used instead of the client/serverarchitecture. For example, a computer communications network, or othersuitable architecture may be used. The network 2850 may be the Internet,an intranet, or any other network suitable for searching, obtaining,and/or using information and/or communications. The system of thepresent invention further includes an operating system 2812 installedand running on the at least one remote server 2810, enabling the server2810 to communicate through network 2850 with the remote, distributeddevices or apparatus embodiments as described hereinabove, the server2810 having a memory 2820. The operating system may be any operatingsystem known in the art that is suitable for network communication.

FIG. 29 shows a schematic diagram illustrating aspects of the systems,methods and apparatus according to the present invention. Each nodeincludes an apparatus or device unit, referenced in the FIG. 29 as“SigSet Device A”, “SigSet Device B”, “SigSet Device C”, and through“SigSet Device N” that are constructed and configured for selectiveexchange, both transmitting and receiving information over a networkconnection, either wired or wireless communications, with the masterSigDB or database at a remote server location from the units.

FIG. 30 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the inventionillustrating a computer system, generally described as 3800, having anetwork 3810 and a plurality of computing devices 3820, 3830, 3840. Inone embodiment of the invention, the computer system 3800 includes acloud-based network 3810 for distributed communication via the network'swireless communication antenna 3812 and processing by a plurality ofmobile communication computing devices 3830. In another embodiment ofthe invention, the computer system 3800 is a virtualized computingsystem capable of executing any or all aspects of software and/orapplication components presented herein on the computing devices 3820,3830, 3840. In certain aspects, the computer system 3800 may beimplemented using hardware or a combination of software and hardware,either in a dedicated computing device, or integrated into anotherentity, or distributed across multiple entities or computing devices.

By way of example, and not limitation, the computing devices 3820, 3830,3840 are intended to represent various forms of digital devices andmobile devices, such as a server, blade server, mainframe, mobile phone,a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smart phone, a desktop computer, anetbook computer, a tablet computer, a workstation, a laptop, and othersimilar computing devices. The components shown here, their connectionsand relationships, and their functions, are meant to be exemplary only,and are not meant to limit implementations of the invention describedand/or claimed in this document.

In one embodiment, the computing device 3820 includes components such asa processor 3860, a system memory 3862 having a random access memory(RAM) 3864 and a read-only memory (ROM) 3866, and a system bus 3868 thatcouples the memory 3862 to the processor 3860. In another embodiment,the computing device 3830 may additionally include components such as astorage device 3890 for storing the operating system 3892 and one ormore application programs 3894, a network interface unit 3896, and/or aninput/output controller 3898. Each of the components may be coupled toeach other through at least one bus 3868. The input/output controller3898 may receive and process input from, or provide output to, a numberof other devices 3899, including, but not limited to, alphanumeric inputdevices, mice, electronic styluses, display units, touch screens, signalgeneration devices (e.g., speakers) or printers.

By way of example, and not limitation, the processor 3860 may be ageneral-purpose microprocessor (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU)),a graphics processing unit (GPU), a microcontroller, a Digital SignalProcessor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), aField Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD),a controller, a state machine, gated or transistor logic, discretehardware components, or any other suitable entity or combinationsthereof that can perform calculations, process instructions forexecution, and/or other manipulations of information.

In another implementation, shown in FIG. 30 , a computing device 3840may use multiple processors 3860 and/or multiple buses 3868, asappropriate, along with multiple memories 3862 of multiple types (e.g.,a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality ofmicroprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSPcore).

Also, multiple computing devices may be connected, with each deviceproviding portions of the necessary operations (e.g., a server bank, agroup of blade servers, or a multi-processor system). Alternatively,some steps or methods may be performed by circuitry that is specific toa given function.

According to various embodiments, the computer system 3800 may operatein a networked environment using logical connections to local and/orremote computing devices 3820, 3830, 3840 through a network 3810. Acomputing device 3820 may connect to a network 3810 through a networkinterface unit 3896 connected to the bus 3868. Computing devices maycommunicate communication media through wired networks, direct-wiredconnections or wirelessly such as acoustic, RF or infrared through awireless communication antenna 3897 in communication with the network'swireless communication antenna 3812 and the network interface unit 3896,which may include digital signal processing circuitry when necessary.The network interface unit 3896 may provide for communications undervarious modes or protocols.

In one or more exemplary aspects, the instructions may be implemented inhardware, software, firmware, or any combinations thereof. A computerreadable medium may provide volatile or non-volatile storage for one ormore sets of instructions, such as operating systems, data structures,program modules, applications or other data embodying any one or more ofthe methodologies or functions described herein. The computer readablemedium may include the memory 3862, the processor 3860, and/or thestorage device 3890 and may be a single medium or multiple media (e.g.,a centralized or distributed computer system) that store the one or moresets of instructions 3900. Non-transitory computer readable mediaincludes all computer readable media, with the sole exception being atransitory, propagating signal per se. The instructions 3900 may furtherbe transmitted or received over the network 3810 via the networkinterface unit 3896 as communication media, which may include amodulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transportmechanism and includes any delivery media. The term “modulated datasignal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristicschanged or set in a manner as to encode information in the signal.

Storage devices 3890 and memory 3862 include, but are not limited to,volatile and non-volatile media such as cache, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM,FLASH memory, or other solid state memory technology; discs (e.g.,digital versatile discs (DVD), HD-DVD, BLU-RAY, compact disc (CD), orCD-ROM) or other optical storage; magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape,magnetic disk storage, floppy disks, or other magnetic storage devices;or any other medium that can be used to store the computer readableinstructions and which can be accessed by the computer system 3800.

It is also contemplated that the computer system 3800 may not includeall of the components shown in FIG. 30 , may include other componentsthat are not explicitly shown in FIG. 30 , or may utilize anarchitecture completely different than that shown in FIG. 30 . Thevarious illustrative logical blocks, modules, elements, circuits, andalgorithms described in connection with the embodiments disclosed hereinmay be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, orcombinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability ofhardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules,circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms oftheir functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented ashardware or software depends upon the particular application and designconstraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans mayimplement the described functionality in varying ways for eachparticular application (e.g., arranged in a different order orpartitioned in a different way), but such implementation decisionsshould not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of thepresent invention.

The present invention further provides for aggregating data from atleast two apparatus units by at least one server computer and storingthe aggregated data in a database and/or in at least one database in acloud-based computing environment or virtualized computing environment,as illustrated in FIG. 28 or FIG. 30 . The present invention furtherprovides for remote access to the aggregated data and/or data from anyof the at least one apparatus unit, by distributed remote user(s) fromcorresponding distributed remote device(s), such as by way of exampleand not limitation, desktop computers, laptop computers, tabletcomputers, mobile computers with wireless communication operations,smartphones, mobile communications devices, and combinations thereof.The remote access to data is provided by software applications operableon computers directly (as a “desktop” application) and/or as a webservice that allows user interface to the data through a secure,network-based website access.

In other embodiments of the present invention, which include the baseinvention described hereinabove, and further including the functions ofmachine “learning”, modulation detection, automatic signal detection,FFT replay, and combinations thereof.

Automatic modulation detection and machine “learning” includes automaticsignal variance determination by at least one of the following methods:date and time from location set, and remote access to the apparatus unitto determine variance from different locations and times, in addition tothe descriptions of automatic signal detection and thresholddetermination and setting. Environments vary, especially where there aremany signals, noise, interference, variance, etc., so tracking signalsautomatically is difficult, and a longstanding, unmet need in the priorart. The present invention provides for automatic signal detection usinga sample of measured and sensed data associated with signals over timeusing the at least one apparatus unit of the present invention toprovide an automatically adjustable and adaptable system. For eachspectrum scan, the data is automatically subdivided into “windows”,which are sections or groups of data within a frequency space. Real-timeprocessing of the measured and sensed data on the apparatus unit(s) ordevices combined with the windowing effect provides for automaticcomparison of signal versus noise within the window to provide for noiseapproximation, wherein both signals and noise are measured and sensed,recorded, analyzed compared with historical data to identify and outputsignals in a high noise environment. It is adaptive and iterative toinclude focused windows and changes in the window or frequency rangesgrouped. The resulting values for all data are squared in the analysis,which results in signals identified easily by the apparatus unit ashaving significantly larger power values compared with noise; additionalanalytics provide for selection of the highest power value signals andreview of the original data corresponding thereto. Thus, the at leastone apparatus automatically determines and identifies signals comparedto noise in the RF spectrum.

The apparatus unit or device of the present invention further includes atemporal anomaly detector (or “learning channel”). The first screen shotillustrated in FIG. 31 shows the blank screen, the second screen shotillustrated in FIG. 32 shows several channels that the system has“learned”. This table can be saved to disk as a spreadsheet and reusedon subsequent surveys at the same location. The third screen shot shownin FIG. 33 displays the results when run with the “Enable OOB Signals”button enabled. In this context OOB means “Out Of Band” or rogue orpreviously unidentified signals. Once a baseline set of signals has beenlearned by the system, it can be used with automatic signal detection toclearly show new, unknown signals that were not present when the initiallearning was done, as shown in FIG. 34 .

In a similar capacity, the user can load a spreadsheet that they haveconstructed on their own to describe the channels that they expect tosee in a given environment, as illustrated in FIG. 34 . When run withOOB detection, the screen shot shows the detection of signals that werenot in the user configuration. These rogue signals could be a possiblesource of interference, and automatic detection of them can greatlyassist the job of an RF Manager.

FIGS. 31-34 illustrate the functions and features of the presentinvention for automatic or machine “learning” as described hereinabove.

Automatic signal detection of the present invention eliminates the needfor a manual setting of a power threshold line or bar, as with the priorart. The present invention does not require a manual setting of powerthreshold bar or flat line to identify signals instead of noise, insteadit uses information on the hardware parameters of the apparatus unit ordevice, environment parameters, and terrain data to derive the thresholdbar or flatline, which are stored in the static database of theapparatus unit or device. Thus, the apparatus unit or device may beactivated and left unattended to collect data continuously without theneed for manual interaction with the device directly. Furthermore, thepresent invention allows remote viewing of live data in real time on adisplay of a computer or communications device in network-basedconnection but remotely positioned from the apparatus unit or device,and/or remote access to device settings, controls, data, andcombinations thereof. The network-based communication may be selectedfrom mobile, satellite, Ethernet, and functional equivalents orimprovements with security including firewalls, encryption of data, andcombinations thereof.

Regarding FFT replay, the present invention apparatus units are operableto replay data and to review and/or replay data saved based upon anunknown event, such as for example and not limitation, reported alarmsand/or unique events, wherein the FFT replay is operable to replaystored sensed and measured data to the section of data nearest thereported alarm and/or unique event. By contrast, prior art provides forrecording signals on RF spectrum measurement devices, which transmit orsend the raw data to an external computer for analysis, so then it isimpossible to replay or review specific sections of data, as they arenot searchable, tagged, or otherwise sectioned into subgroups of data orstored on the device.

Automatic Signal Detection

The previous approach to ASD was to subtract a calibration vector fromeach FFT sample set (de-bias), then square each resulting value and lookfor concentrations of energy that would differentiate a signal fromrandom baseline noise. The advantages of this approach are that, by theuse of the calibration vector (which was created using the receiveritself with no antenna), we are able to closely track variations in thebaseline noise that are due to the characteristics of the receiver,front end filtering, attenuation and A/D converter hardware. On mostmodern equipment, the designers take steps to keep the overall responseflat, but there are those that do not. FIG. 35 is an example of areceiver that has marked variations on baseline behavior across a widespectrum (9 MHz-6 GHz).

The drawbacks to this approach are: 1) It requires the use of several“tuning” variables which often require the user to adjust and fiddlewith in order to achieve good signal recognition. A fully automaticsignal detection system should be able to choose values for theseparameters without the intervention of an operator. 2) It does not takeinto account variations in the baseline noise floor that are introducedby RF energy in a live environment. Since these variations were notpresent during calibration, they are not part of the calibration vectorand cannot be “canceled out” during the de-bias phase. Instead theyremain during the square and detect phase, often being mistakenlyclassified as signal. An example of this is FIG. 36 , a normal spectrumfrom 700 MHz to 790 MHz. The threshold line (baby blue) indicates thelevel where we would differentiate signal from noise. FIG. 37illustrates the same spectrum at a different time where an immenselypowerful signal at about 785 MHz has caused undulations in the noisefloor all the way down to 755 MHz. It is clear to see by the placementof the threshold line large blocks of the noise are now going to berecognized as signal. Not only are the 4 narrow band signals now goingto be mistakenly seen as one large signal, there is an additional lumpof noise around 760 MHz that represents no signal at all, but will beclassified as such.

In order to solve these two problems, and provide a fully automaticsignal detection system, a new approach has been taken to prepare thecalibration vector. The existing square and detect algorithm works wellif the data are de-biased properly with a cleverly chosen calibrationvector, it's just that the way we were creating the calibration vectorwas not sufficient.

FIG. 38 illustrates a spectrum from 1.9 GHz to 2.0 GHz, along with someadditional lines that indicate the functions of the new algorithm. Line1 (brown) at the bottom displays the existing calibration vector createdby running the receiver with no antenna. It is clear to see that, ifused as is, it is too low to be used to de-bias the data shown as line 2(dark blue). Also, much of the elevations in noise floor will wind upbeing part of the signals that are detected. In order to compensate forthis, the user was given a control (called “Bias”) that allowed them toraise or lower the calibration vector to hopefully achieve a morereasonable result. But, as illustrated in FIG. 37 , no adjustment willsuffice when the noise floor has been distorted due to the injection oflarge amounts of energy.

So, rather than attempt to make the calibration vector fit the data, thenew approach examines the data itself in an attempt to use parts of itas the correction vector. This is illustrated by the light purple andbaby blue lines in the FIG. 38 . Line 3 (light purple) in FIG. 38 is theresult of using a 60-sample smoothing filter to average the raw data. Itclearly follows the data, but it removes the “jumpiness”. This can bebetter seen in FIG. 39 which is a close-up view of the first part of theoverall spectrum. The difference between the smoothed data shown as line3 (light purple) and the original data shown as line 2 (dark blue) isdisplayed clearly.

The new Gradient Detection algorithm is applied to the smoothed data todetect locations where the slope of the line changes quickly. In placeswhere the slope changes quickly in a positive direction, the algorithmmarks the start of a signal. On the other side of the signal thegradient again changes quickly to become more horizontal. At that pointthe algorithm determines it is the end of a signal. A second smoothingpass is performed on the smoothed data, but this time, those values thatfall between the proposed start and end of signal are left out of theaverage. The result is line 4 (baby blue) in FIGS. 38 and 39 , which isthen used as the new calibration vector. This new calibration vectorshown as line 4 (baby blue) is then used to de-bias the raw data whichis then passed to the existing square and detect ASD algorithm.

One of the other user-tunable parameters in the existing ASD system wascalled “Sensitivity”. This was a parameter that essentially set athreshold of energy, above which each FFT bin in a block of binsaveraged together must exceed in order for that block of bins to beconsidered a signal. In this way, rather than a single horizontal lineto divide signal from noise, each signal can be evaluated individually,based on its average power. The effect of setting this value too low wasthat tiny fluctuations of energy that are actually noise would sometimesappear to be signals. Setting the value too high would result in thealgorithm missing a signal. In order to automatically choose a value forthis parameter, the new system uses a “Quality of Service” feedback fromthe Event Compositor, a module that processes the real-time events fromthe ASD system and writes signal observations into a database. When thesensitivity value is too low, the random bits of energy that ASDmistakenly sees as signal are very transient. This is due to the randomnature of noise. The Event Compositor has a parameter called a“Pre-Recognition Delay” that sets the minimum number of consecutivescans that it must see a signal in order for it to be considered acandidate for a signal observation database entry (in order to catchlarge fast signals, an exception is made for large transients that areeither high in peak power, or in bandwidth). Since the randomfluctuations seldom persist for more than 1 or 2 sweeps, the EventCompositor ignores them, essentially filtering them out. If there are alarge number of these transients, the Event Compositor provides feedbackto the ASD module to inform it that its sensitivity is too low.Likewise, if there are no transients at all, the feedback indicates thesensitivity is too high. Eventually, the system arrives at an optimalsetting for the sensitivity parameter.

The result is a fully automated signal detection system that requires nouser intervention or adjustment. The black brackets at the top of FIG.38 illustrate the signals recognized by the system, clearly indicatingits accuracy.

Because the system relies heavily upon averaging, a new algorithm wascreated that performs an N sample average in fixed time; i.e. regardlessof the width of the average, N, each bin requires 1 addition, 1subtraction, and 1 division. A simpler algorithm would require Nadditions and 1 division per bin of data. A snippet of the code isprobably the best description:

    public double [ ] smoothingFilter( double [ ] dataSet, intfilterSize ) {  double [ ] resultSet = new double[ dataSet.length ]; double temp = 0.0;  int i=0;  int halfSize = filterSize/2;  for( i=0 ;i < filterSize ; i++ ) {   temp += dataSet[i];   // load accumulatorwith the first N/2 values.   if( i < halfSize )    resultSet[i] =dataSet[i];  }     for( i=halfSize ; i < (dataSet.length − halfSize) ;i++ ) {   resultSet[i] = temp / filterSize; // Compute the average andstore it   temp −= dataSet[ i−halfSize ]; // take out the oldest value  temp += dataSet[ i+halfSize ]; // add in the newest value  }  while( i< dataSet.length ) {   resultSet[i] = dataSet[i];   i++;  }  return(resultSet ); }

Automatic Signal Detection (ASD) with Temporal Feature Extraction (TFE)

The system in the present invention uses statistical learning techniquesto observe and learn an RF environment over time and identify temporalfeatures of the RF environment (e.g., signals) during a learning period.

A knowledge map is formed based on learning data from a learning period.Real-time signal events are detected by an ASD system and scrubbedagainst the knowledge map to determine if the real-time signal eventsare typical and expected for the environment, or if there is any eventnot typical nor expected.

The knowledge map consists of an array of normal distributions, whereeach distribution column is for each frequency bin of the FFT result setprovided by a software defined radio (SDR). Each vertical columncorresponds to a bell-shaped curve for that frequency. Each pixelrepresents a count of how many times that frequency was seen, detected,or observed at that power level.

A learning routine takes power levels of each frequency bin, uses thepower levels as an index into each distribution column corresponding toeach frequency bin, and increments the counter in a locationcorresponding to a power level.

FIG. 40 illustrates a knowledge map obtained by a TFE process. The topwindow shows the result of real-time spectrum sweep of an environment.The bottom window shows a knowledge map, which color codes the values ineach column (normal distribution) based on how often the power level ofthat frequency (column) has been at a particular level.

The TFE function monitors its operation and produces a “settledpercent.” The settled percent is the percentage of the values of theincoming FFT result set that the system has seen, detected, or observedbefore. In this way, the system can know if it is ready to interpret thestatistical data that it has obtained. Once it reaches a point wheremost of the FFT values have been seen, detected, or observed before(99.95% or better), it can then perform an interpretation operation.

FIG. 41 illustrates an interpretation operation based on a knowledgemap. During the interpretation operation, the system extracts valuablesignal identification from the knowledge map. Some statisticalquantities are identified. For each column, the power level at which afrequency is seen, detected, or observed the most is determined (peak ofthe distribution curve), which is represented by line a (red) in FIG. 41. A desired percentage of power level values is located between the highand low boundaries of the power levels (shoulders of the curve), whichare represented by lines b (white) in FIG. 41 . The desired percentageis adjustable. In FIG. 41 , the desired percentage is set at 42% basedon the learning data. In one embodiment, a statistical method is used toobtain a desirable percentage that provides the highest degree of“smoothness” - - - lowest deviation from column to column. Then, aprofile is drawn based on the learning data, which represents thehighest power level at which each frequency has been seen, detected, orobserved during learning. In FIG. 41 , the profile is represented byline c (green).

Gradient detection is then applied to the profile to identify areas oftransition. An algorithm continues to accumulate a gradient value aslong as the “step” from the previous cell to this cell is alwaysnon-zero and the same direction. When it arrives at a zero or differentdirection step, it evaluates the accumulated difference to see if it issignificant, and if so, considers it a gradient. A transition isidentified by a continuous change (from left to right) that exceeds theaverage range between the high and low boundaries of power levels shownas lines b (white) in FIG. 41 . Positive and negative gradients arematched, and the resulting interval is identified as a signal. FIG. 42shows the identification of signals, which are represented by the blackbrackets above the knowledge display. Similar to FIG. 41 , the knowledgemap in FIG. 42 color codes (e.g., black, dark blue, baby blue) thevalues in each column (normal distribution) based on how often the powerlevel of that frequency (column) has been at a particular level. Lines b(white) represent the high and low boundaries of a desirable percentageof power level. Line c (green) represents a profile of the RFenvironment comprising the highest power level at which each frequencyhas been seen during learning.

FIG. 43 shows more details of the narrow band signals at the left of thespectrum around 400 MHz in FIG. 42 . Similar to FIG. 41 , the knowledgemap in FIG. 43 color codes (e.g., black, dark blue, baby blue) thevalues in each column (normal distribution) based on how often the powerlevel of that frequency (column) has been at a particular level. Lines b(white) represent the high and low boundaries of a desirable percentageof power level. Line c (green) represents a profile of the RFenvironment comprising the highest power level at which each frequencyhas been seen during learning. The red cursor at 410.365 MHz in FIG. 43points to a narrow band signal. The real-time spectrum sweep on the topwindow shows the narrow band signal, and the TFE process identifies thenarrow band signal as well.

To a prior art receiver, the narrow band signal hidden within a widebandsignal is not distinguishable or detectable. The systems and methods anddevices of the present invention are operable to scan a wideband withhigh resolution or high definition to identify channel divisions withina wideband, and identify narrowband signals hidden within the widebandsignal, which are not a part of the wideband signal itself, i.e., thenarrow band signals are not part of the bundled channels within thewideband signal.

FIG. 44 shows more details of the two wide band signals around 750 MHzand a similar signal starting at 779 MHz. Similar to FIG. 41 , theknowledge map in FIG. 44 color codes (e.g., black, dark blue, baby blue)the values in each column (normal distribution) based on how often thepower level of that frequency (column) has been at a particular level.Lines b (white) represent the high and low boundaries of a desirablepercentage of power level. Line c (green) represents a profile of the RFenvironment comprising the highest power level at which each frequencyhas been seen during learning. The present invention detects the mostprominent parts of the signal starting at 779 MHz. The transmitters ofthese two wide band signals are actually in the distance, and normalsignal detectors, which usually have a fixed threshold, are not able topick up these two wide band signals but only see them as static noises.Because the TFE system in the present invention uses an aggregation ofsignal data over time, it can identify these signals and fine tune theASD sensitivity of individual segments. Thus, the system in the presentinvention is able to detect signals that normal radio gear cannot. ASDin the present invention, is enhanced by the knowledge obtained by TFEand is now able to detect and record these signals where gradientdetection alone would not have seen, detected, or observed them. Thethreshold bar in the present invention is not fixed, but changeable.

Also, at the red cursor in FIG. 44 is a narrow band signal in thedistance that normally would not be detected because of its low power atthe point of observation. But the present invention interprets knowledgegained over time and is able to identify that signal.

FIG. 45 illustrates the operation of the ASD in the present invention.Line A (green) shows the spectrum data between 720 MHz and 791 MHz. 1stand 2nd derivatives of the power levels are calculated inside spectrumon a cell by cell basis, displayed as the overlapping line B (blue) andline C (red) at the top. The algorithm then picks the most prominentderivatives and performs a squaring function on them as displayed byline D (red) trace. The software then matches positive and negativegradients, to identify the edges of the signals, which are representedby the brackets on the top. Two wideband signals are identified, whichmay be CDMA, LTE, or other communication protocol used by mobile phones.Line E (red) at the bottom is a baseline established by averaging thespectrum and removing areas identified by the gradients. At the twowideband signals, line E (red) is flat. By subtracting the baseline fromthe real spectrum data, groups of cells with average power abovebaseline are identified, and the averaging algorithm is run againstthose areas to apply the sensitivity measurement.

The ASD system has the ability to distinguish between large eruptions ofenergy that increase the baseline noise and the narrow band signals thatcould normally be swamped by the additional energy because it generatesits baseline from the spectrum itself and looks for relative gradientsrather than absolute power levels. This baseline is then subtracted fromthe original spectrum data, revealing the signals, as displayed by thebrackets at the top of the screen. Note that the narrow-band signals arestill being detected (tiny brackets at the top that look more like dots)even though there is a hump of noise super-imposed on them.

TFE is a learning process that augments the ASD feature in the presentinvention. The ASD system enhanced with TFE function in the presentinvention can automatically tune parameters based on a segmented basis,the sensitivity within an area is changeable. The TFE processaccumulates small differences over time and signals become more and moreapparent. In one embodiment, the TFE takes 40 samples per second over a5-minute interval. The ASD system in the present invention is capable ofdistinguishing signals based on gradients from a complex and movingnoise floor without a fixed threshold bar when collecting data from anenvironment.

The ASD system with TFE function in the present invention is unmannedand water resistant. It runs automatically 24/7, even submerged inwater.

The TFE is also capable of detecting interferences and intrusions. Inthe normal environment, the TFE settles, interprets and identifiessignals. Because it has a statistical knowledge of the RF landscape, itcan tell the difference between a low power, wide band signal that itnormally sees and a new higher power narrow band signal that may be anintruder. This is because it “scrubs” each of the FFT bins of each eventthat the ASD system detects against its knowledge base. When it detectsthat a particular group of bins in a signal from ASD falls outside thestatistical range that those frequencies normally are observed, thesystem can raise an anomaly report. The TFE is capable of learning newknowledge, which is never seen, detected, or observed before, from thesignals identified by a normal detector. In one embodiment, a narrowband signal (e.g., a pit crew to car wireless signal) impinges on an LTEwideband signal, the narrow band signal may be right beside the widebandsignal, or drift in and out of the wideband signal. On display, it justlooks like an LTE wideband signal. For example, a narrow band signalwith a bandwidth of 12 kHz or 25-30 kHz in a wideband signal with abandwidth of 5 MHz over a 6 GHz spectrum just looks like a spike buriedin the middle. But, because signals are characterized in real timeagainst learned knowledge, the proposed ASD system with TFE function isable to pick out narrow band intruder immediately.

The present invention is able to detect a narrow band signal with abandwidth from 1-2 kHz to 60 kHz inside a wideband signal (e.g., with abandwidth of 5 MHz) across a 6 GHz spectrum. In FIGS. 40-45 , thefrequency resolution is 19.5 kHz, and a narrow band signal with abandwidth of 2-3 kHz can be detected. The frequency resolution is basedon the setting of the FFT result bin size.

Statistical learning techniques are used for extracting temporalfeature, creating a statistical knowledge map of what each frequency isand determining variations and thresholds and etc. The ASD system withTFE function in the present invention is capable of identifying,demodulating and decoding signals, both wideband and narrowband withhigh energy.

If a narrowband signal is close to the end of wideband LTE signal, thewideband LTE signal is distorted at the edge. If multiple narrowbandsignals are within a wideband signal, the top edge of the widebandsignal is ragged as the narrow band signal is hidden within the wideband signal. If one narrow band signal is in the middle of a widebandsignal, the narrow band signal is usually interpreted as a cell withinthe wideband signal. However, the ASD system with TFE function in thepresent invention learns power levels in a spectrum section over time,and is able to recognize the narrow band signal immediately.

The present invention is operable to log the result, display on achannel screen, notify operator and send alarms, etc. The presentinvention auto records spectrum, but does not record all the time. Whena problem is identified, relevant information is auto recorded in highdefinition.

The ASD system with TFE in the present invention is used for spectrummanagement. The system in the present invention is set up in a normalenvironment and starts learning and stores at least one learning map init. The learning function of the ASD system in the present invention canbe enabled and disabled. When the ASD system is exposed to a stableenvironment and has learned what is normal in the environment, it willstop its learning process. The environment is periodically reevaluated.The learning map is updated at a predetermined timeframe. After aproblem is detected, the learning map will also be updated.

The ASD system in the present invention can be deployed in stadiums,ports, airports, or on borders. In one embodiment, the ASD system learnsand stores the knowledge in that environment. In another embodiment, theASD system downloads prior knowledge and immediately displays it. Inanother embodiment, an ASD device can learn from other ASD devicesglobally.

In operation, the ASD system then collects real time data and comparesto the learning map stored for signal identification. Signals identifiedby the ASD system with TFE function may be determined to be an error byan operator. In that situation, an operator can manually edit or erasethe error, essentially “coaching” the learning system.

The systems and devices in the present invention create a channel planbased on user input, or external databases, and look for signals thatare not there. Temporal Feature Extraction not only can define a channelplan based on what it learns from the environment, but it also “scrubs”each spectrum pass against the knowledge it has learned. This allows itto not only identify signals that violate a prescribed channel plan, butit can also discern the difference between a current signal, and thesignal that it has previously seen, detected, or observed in thatfrequency location. If there is a narrow band interference signal wherethere typically is a wide band signal, the system will identify it as ananomaly because it does not match the pattern of what is usually in thatspace.

The device in the present invention is designed to be autonomous. Itlearns from the environment, and, without operator intervention, candetect anomalous signals that either were not there before, or havechanged in power or bandwidth. Once detected, the device can send alertsby text or email and begin high resolution spectrum capture, or IQcapture of the signal of interest.

FIG. 40 illustrates an environment in which the device is learning.There are some obvious signals, but there is also a very low level wideband signal between 746 MHz and 755 MHz. Typical threshold-orientedsystems would not catch this. But, the TFE system takes a broader viewover time. The signal does not have to be there all the time or bepronounced to be detected by the system. Each time it appears in thespectrum serves to reinforce the impression on the learning fabric.These impressions are then interpreted and characterized as signals.

FIG. 43 shows the knowledge map that the device has acquired during itslearning system, and shows brackets above what it has determined aresignals. Note that the device has determined these signals on its ownwithout any user intervention, or any input from any databases. It is asimple thing to then further categorize the signals by matching againstdatabases, but what sets the device in the present invention apart isthat, like its human counterpart, it has the ability to draw its ownconclusions based on what it has seen, detected, or observed.

FIG. 44 shows a signal identified by the device in the present inventionbetween 746 MHz and 755 MHz with low power levels. It is clear to seethat, although the signal is barely distinguishable from the backgroundnoise, TFE clearly has identified its edges. Over to the far right is asimilar signal that is further away so that it only presents traces ofitself. But again, because the device in the present invention istrained to distinguish random and coherent energy patterns over time, itcan clearly pick out the pattern of a signal. Just to the left of thatfaint signal was a transient narrow band signal at 777.653 MHz. Thissignal is only present for a brief period of time during the training,typically 0.5-0.7 seconds each instance, separated by minutes ofsilence, yet the device does not miss it, remembers those instances andcategorizes them as a narrow band signal.

The identification and classification algorithms that the system uses toidentify Temporal Features are optimized to be used in real time. Noticethat, even though only fragments of the low level wide band signal aredetected on each sweep, the system still matches them with the signalthat it had identified during its learning phase.

Also as the system is running, it is scrubbing each spectral sweepagainst its knowledge map. When it finds coherent bundles of energy thatare either in places that are usually quiet, or have higher power orbandwidth than it has seen, detected, or observed before, it canautomatically send up a red flag. Since the system is doing this in RealTime, it has critical relevance to those in harm's way—the firstresponder, or the war fighter who absolutely must have clear channels ofcommunication or instant situational awareness of imminent threats. It'sone thing to geolocate a signal that the user has identified. It's anentirely different dimension when the system can identify the signal onits own before the user even realizes it's there. Because the device inthe present invention can pick out these signals with a sensitivity thatis far superior to a simple threshold system, the threat does not haveto present an obvious presence to be detected and alerted.

Devices in prior art merely make it easy for a person to analyzespectral data, both in real time and historically, locally or remotely.But the device in the present invention operates as an extension of theperson, performing the learning and analysis on its own, and evenfinding things that a human typically may miss.

The device in the present invention can easily capture signalidentifications, match them to databases, store and upload historicaldata. Moreover, the device has intelligence and the ability to be morethan a simple data storage and retrieval device. The device is awatchful eye in an RF environment, and a partner to an operator who istrying to manage, analyze, understand and operate in the RF environment.

Geolocation

The prior art is dependent upon a synchronized receiver for power,phase, frequency, angle, and time of arrival, and an accurate clock fortiming, and significantly, requires three devices to be used, whereinall are synchronized and include directional antennae to identify asignal with the highest power. Advantageously, the present inventiondoes not require synchronization of receivers in a multiplicity ofdevices to provide geolocation of at least one apparatus unit or device,thereby reducing cost and improving functionality of each of the atleast one apparatus in the systems described hereinabove for the presentinvention. Also, the present invention provides for larger frequencyrange analysis, and provides database(s) for capturing events, patterns,times, power, phase, frequency, angle, and combinations for the at leastone signal of interest in the RF spectrum. The present inventionprovides for better measurements and data of signal(s) with respect totime, frequency with respect to time, power with respect to time, andcombinations thereof. In preferred embodiments of the at least oneapparatus unit of the present invention, geolocation is providedautomatically by the apparatus unit using at least one anchor pointembedded within the system, by power measurements and transmission thatprovide for “known” environments of data. The known environments of datainclude measurements from the at least one anchorpoint that characterizethe RF receiver of the apparatus unit or device. The known environmentsof data include a database including information from the FCC databaseand/or user-defined database, wherein the information from the FCCdatabase includes at least maximum power based upon frequency, protocol,device type, and combinations thereof. With the geolocation function ofthe present invention, there is no requirement to synchronize receiversas with the prior art; the at least one anchorpoint and location of anapparatus unit provide the required information to automatically adjustto a first anchorpoint or to a second anchorpoint in the case of atleast two anchorpoints, if the second anchorpoint is easier to adopt.The known environment data provide for expected spectrum and signalbehavior as the reference point for the geolocation. Each apparatus unitor device includes at least one receiver for receiving RF spectrum andlocation information as described hereinabove. In the case of onereceiver, it is operable with and switchable between antennae forreceiving RF spectrum data and location data; in the case of tworeceivers, preferably each of the two receivers are housed within theapparatus unit or device. A frequency lock loop is used to determine ifa signal is moving, by determining if there is a Doppler change forsignals detected.

Location determination for geolocation is provided by determining apoint (x, y) or Lat Lon from the at least three anchor locations (x1,y1); (x2, y2); (x3, y3) and signal measurements at either of the node oranchors. Signal measurements provide a system of non-linear equationsthat must be solved for (x, y) mathematically; and the measurementsprovide a set of geometric shapes which intersect at the node locationfor providing determination of the node.

For trilateration methods for providing observations to distances thefollowing methods are used:

${RSS} = {d = {d_{0}10^{(\frac{P_{0} - P_{r}}{10n})}}}$

-   -   wherein do is the reference distance derived from the reference        transmitter and signal characteristics (e.g., frequency, power,        duration, bandwidth, etc.); Po is the power received at the        reference distance; Pr is the observed received power; and n is        the path loss exponent; and Distance from observations is        related to the positions by the following equations:

d ₁=(√{square root over ((x−x ₁)²+(y−y ₁)²)})

d ₂=(√{square root over ((x−x ₂)²+(y−y ₂)²)})

d ₃=(√{square root over ((x−x ₃)²+(y−y ₃)²)})

Also, in another embodiment of the present invention, a geolocationapplication software operable on a computer device or on a mobilecommunications device, such as by way of example and not limitation, asmartphone, is provided. Method steps are illustrated in the flowdiagram shown in FIG. 46 , including starting a geolocation app; callingactive devices via a connection broker; opening spectrum displayapplication; selecting at least one signal to geolocate; selecting atleast three devices (or apparatus unit of the present invention) withina location or region, verifying that the devices or apparatus units aresynchronized to a receiver to be geolocated; perform signal detection(as described hereinabove) and include center frequency, bandwidth, peakpower, channel power, and duration; identify modulation of protocoltype, obtain maximum, median, minimum and expected power; calculatingdistance based on selected propagation model; calculating distance basedon one (1) meter path loss; calculating distance based on one (1) meterpath loss model; calculating distance based on one (1) meter path lossmodel; perform circle transformations for each location; checking if RFpropagation distances form circles that are fully enclosed; checking ifRF propagation form circles that do not intersect; performingtrilateration of devices; deriving z component to convert back to knownGPS Lat Lon (latitude and longitude) coordinate; and making coordinatesand set point as emitter location on mapping software to indicate thegeolocation.

The equations referenced in FIG. 46 are provided hereinbelow:

Equation 1 for calculating distance based on selected propagation model:

PLossExponent=(Parameter C−6.55*log 10(BS_AntHeight))/10

MS_AntGainFunc=3.2*(log 10(11.75*MS_AntHeight))²−4.97

Constant(C)=ParameterA+ParameterB*log 10(Frequency)−13.82*log10(BS_AntHeight)−MS_AntGainFunc

DistanceRange=10^(((PLoss−PLossConstant)/10*PLossExponent)))

Equation 2 for calculating distance based on 1 meter Path Loss Model(first device):

d0=1; k=PLossExponent; PL_d=Pt+Gt−RSSI−TotalMargin

PL_0=32.44+10*k*log 10(d0)+10*k*log 10(Frequency)

D=d ₀*(10^(((PL_d−PL_0)/(10k))))

Equation 3: (same as equation 2) for second device

Equation 4: (same as equation 2) for third device

Equation 5: Perform circle transformations for each location (x, y, z)Distance d; Verify ATA=0; where A={matrix of locations 1−N} in relationto distance; if not, then perform circle transformation check

Equation 6: Perform trilateration of devices if more than three (3)devices aggregation and trilaterate by device; set circles to zeroorigin and solve from y=Ax where y=[x, y] locations

$\begin{matrix}{\begin{bmatrix}x \\y\end{bmatrix} = {\begin{bmatrix}{2( {x_{a} - x_{c}} )} & {2( y_{a} } &  {- y_{c}} ) \\{2( {x_{b} - x_{c}} )} & {2( y_{b} } &  {- y_{c}} )\end{bmatrix}^{- 1}\begin{bmatrix}{x_{a}^{2} - x_{c}^{2} + y_{a}^{2} - y_{c}^{2} + d_{c}^{2}} & {- d_{a}^{2}} \\{{{- x_{b}^{2}}x_{c}^{2}} + y_{b}^{2} - y_{c}^{2} + d_{c}^{2}} & {- d_{b}^{2}}\end{bmatrix}}} & {{Equation}7}\end{matrix}$

Note that check if RF propagation distances form circles where one ormore circles are Fully Enclosed if it is based upon Mod Type and PowerMeasured, then Set Distance 1 of enclosed circle to Distance 2 minus thedistance between the two points. Also, next, check to see if some of theRF Propagation Distances Form Circles, if they do not intersect, then ifso based on Mod type and Max RF power Set Distance to each circle toDistance of Circle+(Distance between circle points−Sum of theDistances)/2 is used. Note that deriving z component to convert back toknown GPS lat lon coordinate is provided by: z=sqrt(Dist²−x²−y²).

Accounting for unknowns using Differential Received Signal Strength(DRSS) is provided by the following equation when reference or transmitpower is unknown:

$\frac{d_{\iota}}{d_{j}} = 10^{(\frac{P_{r_{j}} - P_{r_{i}}}{10n})}$

And where signal strength measurements in dBm are provided by thefollowing:

P _(r) ₂ (dBm)−P _(r) ₁ (dBm)=10n log₁₀(√{square root over ((x−x₁)²+(y−y ₁)²)})−10n log₁₀(√{square root over ((x−x ₂)²+(y−y ₂)²)})

P _(r) ₃ (dBm)−P _(r) ₁ (dBm)=10n log₁₀(√{square root over ((x−x₁)²+(y−y ₁)²)})−10n log₁₀(√{square root over ((x−x ₃)²+(y−y ₃)²)})

P _(r) ₂ (dBm)−P _(r) ₃ (dBm)=10n log₁₀(√{square root over ((x−x₃)²+(y−y ₃)²)})−10n log₁₀(√{square root over ((x−x ₂)²+(y−y ₂)²)})

For geolocation systems and methods of the present invention, preferablytwo or more devices or units are used to provide nodes. More preferably,three devices or units are used together or “joined” to achieve thegeolocation results. Also preferably, at least three devices or unitsare provided. Software is provided and operable to enable anetwork-based method for transferring data between or among the at leasttwo device or units, or more preferably at least three nodes, a databaseis provided having a database structure to receive input from the nodes(transferred data), and at least one processor coupled with memory toact on the database for performing calculations, transforming measureddata and storing the measured data and statistical data associated withit; the database structure is further designed, constructed andconfigured to derive the geolocation of nodes from saved data and/orfrom real-time data that is measured by the units; also, the databaseand application of systems and methods of the present invention providefor geolocation of more than one node at a time. Additionally, softwareis operable to generate a visual representation of the geolocation ofthe nodes as a point on a map location.

Errors in measurements due to imperfect knowledge of the transmit poweror antenna gain, measurement error due to signal fading (multipath),interference, thermal noise, no line of sight (NLOS) propagation error(shadowing effect), and/or unknown propagation model, are overcome usingdifferential RSS measurements, which eliminate the need for transmitpower knowledge, and can incorporate TDOA and FDOA techniques to helpimprove measurements. The systems and methods of the present inventionare further operable to use statistical approximations to remove errorcauses from noise, timing and power measurements, multipath, and NLOSmeasurements. By way of example, the following methods are used forgeolocation statistical approximations and variances: maximum likelihood(nearest neighbor or Kalman filter); least squares approximation;Bayesian filter if prior knowledge data is included; and the like. Also,TDOA and FDOA equations are derived to help solve inconsistencies indistance calculations. Several methods or combinations of these methodsmay be used with the present invention, since geolocation will beperformed in different environments, including but not limited to indoorenvironments, outdoor environments, hybrid (stadium) environments, innercity environments, etc.

Geolocation Using Deployable Large Scale Arrays

Typically, prior art arrays are more localized and deployed in asymmetrical fashion to reduce the complexity of mathematics and theequipment. The problem with localized fixed arrays are twofold: theyrequire a large footprint for assembly and operation to gain accuracy indirectional measurements. Conversely, smaller footprint arrays ofgeometric antenna systems can lose significant accuracy of thedirectional measurements. To avoid these limitations, a large variablearray is used with fixed or mobile sites to allow greater accuracy.

In one embodiment of the present invention, geolocation using angle ofarrival is provided by a fixed position antenna system constructed andconfigured with a four-pole array in a close proximity to each other.The antenna system is a unique combination of a half (½) Adcock antennaarray positioned at each unit. The antenna system is fixed and isoperable to be deployed with a switching device to a low-cost fullAdcock system. The use of a phase difference on the dual receiver inputallows the local unit to determine a hemisphere of influence in a fullAdcock configuration or a group of the deployed units as a full spacediversity Adcock antenna system. This embodiment advantageouslyfunctions to eliminate directions in the vector-based math calculation,thereby eliminating a large group of false positives.

The antenna system used with the geolocation systems and methods of thepresent invention includes three or more deployed units where none ofthe units is a full-time master nor slave. Each unit can be set to scanindependently for target profiles. Once acquisition is obtained from oneunit, the information is automatically disseminated to the other unitswithin the cluster, i.e., the information is communicated wirelesslythrough a network. Preferably, the unit array is deployed in anasymmetrical configuration.

The antenna system in the present invention utilizes Normalized EarthCentered Earth Fixed vectors. Two additional vector attributes of themonitoring station are selected from the following: pitch, yaw,velocity, altitude (positive and negative) and acceleration.

Once a target acquisition from a single unit is acquired, a formattedmessage is broadcast to the deployed monitoring array stations. Theformatted message includes but is not limited to the following: centerfrequency, bandwidth, modulation schema, average power and phase lockloop time adjustment from the local antenna system.

The monitoring units include a GPS receiver to aid in high resolutionclocks for timing of signal processing and exact location of themonitoring unit. This is key to determine an exact location of themonitoring units, either fixed or mobile, to simulate mathematically thevariable large scale antenna array. The phased-locked inputs determinethe orientation of the incoming target signal into hemispheres ofinfluence.

For this example, FIG. 47 is a North-South/East-West orientation of alocal small diversity array. If the time difference between antenna 1and antenna 2 is positive, the direction of travel is from North toSouth. If they are near equal, we are in the East-West plane. Anotherstation with the local antenna on an east-west plane for the monitoringunit is operable to measure and determine if the incoming target is inthe eastern hemisphere of the array. Since no site is a master toacquisition and measurement, the processing of any or all measurementscan be done on a single monitoring unit. Preferably, the unit thatoriginally captured the unknown target or an external processorprocesses the measurements.

The next step in the process is to determine for each target measurementthe delays of arrival at each location. This will further reveal thedirection of travel to the target or additionally if the target iswithin the large-scale variable array's own footprint.

Once the unit processing the data has received information from theother units in the array, processing of the information begins. First,the unit automatically sorts the array time of arrival at each locationof the at least three units to construct mathematically a synthesis ofthe array. This is crucial to the efficiency and accuracy of the verylarge scale array, since no single monitoring unit is the point ofreference. The point of reference is established by mathematicalprecedence involving time of arrival and the physical location of eachmonitoring unit at that point in time.

An aperture is synthesized between any two points on the array using thedifference in the arrival time. Establishing a midpoint between twomonitoring units establishes a locus for the bearing measurement alongthe synthesized aperture.

The aperture is given in radians by the following equation, where λ isthe wavelength in meters, and Distance is the arc length in meters.

${{Aperture}{Length}} = {2 \cdot \pi \cdot \frac{Distance}{\lambda}}$

Distance is calculated by the following equations, where R is the radiusof the earth in kilometers, and Lat and Lon refer to the points oninstallation for latitude and longitude in radians.

ΔLat = Lat₂ − Lat₁ ΔLon = Lon₂ − Lon₁$a_{1} = {{\sin( \frac{\Delta{Lat}}{2} )}^{2} + {{\cos( {Lat}_{1} )} \cdot {\cos( {Lat}_{2} )} \cdot {\sin( \frac{\Delta{Lon}}{2} )}^{2}}}$$k_{1} = {{2 \cdot a}\tan 2( {\sqrt{a_{1}},\sqrt{( {1 - a_{1}} )}} )}$Distance = 1000 ⋅ R ⋅ k₁

The radial distance directly related to the angle of arrival across theaperture is given by the equation representing the radial time betweenmonitor unit 1 and monitor unit 2 divided by Aperture Length:

${{Radial}{Distance}} = \frac{{TOA}_{1} - {TOA}_{2}}{{Aperture}{Length}}$

Using fundamental logic, two possible angles of arrival between theunits defining the synthetic aperture for a bearing from the midpoint asillustrated in FIG. 48 .

The use of a second component to establish a synthetic aperture yieldsanother bearing as illustrated in FIG. 49 . Thus, as illustrated by thepresent invention, providing a point and additional elements to thearray increases accuracy.

The foregoing method descriptions and the process flow diagrams areprovided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to requireor imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed inthe order presented. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the artthe order of steps in the foregoing embodiments may be performed in anyorder. Words such as “thereafter,” “then,” “next,” etc. are not intendedto limit the order of the steps; these words are simply used to guidethe reader through the description of the methods. Further, anyreference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using thearticles “a,” “an” or “the” is not to be construed as limiting theelement to the singular.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, andalgorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosedherein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, orcombinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability ofhardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules,circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms oftheir functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented ashardware or software depends upon the particular application and designconstraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans mayimplement the described functionality in varying ways for eachparticular application, but such implementation decisions should not beinterpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the presentinvention.

The hardware used to implement the various illustrative logics, logicalblocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspectsdisclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purposeprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) orother programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic,discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed toperform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor maybe a microprocessor, but, in the alternative, the processor may be anyconventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. Aprocessor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices,e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality ofmicroprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSPcore, or any other such configuration. Alternatively, some steps ormethods may be performed by circuitry that is specific to a givenfunction.

In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or moreinstructions or code on a non-transitory computer-readable medium ornon-transitory processor-readable medium. The steps of a method oralgorithm disclosed herein may be embodied in a processor-executablesoftware module which may reside on a non-transitory computer-readableor processor-readable storage medium. Non-transitory computer-readableor processor-readable storage media may be any storage media that may beaccessed by a computer or a processor. By way of example but notlimitation, such non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readablemedia may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, FLASH memory, CD-ROM or otheroptical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storagedevices, or any other medium that may be used to store desired programcode in the form of instructions or data structures and that may beaccessed by a computer. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compactdisc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD),floppy disk, and BLU-RAY disc where disks usually reproduce datamagnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.Combinations of the above are also included within the scope ofnon-transitory computer-readable and processor-readable media.Additionally, the operations of a method or algorithm may reside as oneor any combination or set of codes and/or instructions on anon-transitory processor-readable medium and/or computer-readablemedium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.

Certain modifications and improvements will occur to those skilled inthe art upon a reading of the foregoing description. The above-mentionedexamples are provided to serve the purpose of clarifying the aspects ofthe invention and it will be apparent to one skilled in the art thatthey do not serve to limit the scope of the invention. All modificationsand improvements have been deleted herein for the sake of concisenessand readability but are properly within the scope of the presentinvention.

1. A method for spectrum analysis, comprising: receiving radiofrequency(RF) measurements corresponding to at least one signal from a RFreceiver; determining a time associated with the RF measurements;converting the received RF measurements into spectral representationdata; analyzing the spectral representation data to identify at leastone signal and determine at least one signal parameter of the at leastone signal; comparing the signal parameter of the at least one signal tosignal characteristic listing data in the memory to determine whetherthe signal parameter of the at least one signal matches correspondingsignal parameters in the signal characteristic listing data; identifyingthe at least one signal based upon whether the signal parameter of theat least one signal matches any signal parameters in the signalcharacteristic listing data; generating degradation data associated withthe at least one signal and at least one signal optimization parameterindicating at least one step to optimize the at least one signal; andstoring the signal parameter data and the degradation data in thememory.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising collecting datafrom known signals or unknown signals and time spacing the data.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising determining a geographic locationof the at least one signal based on location input data.
 4. The methodof claim 3, further comprising displaying the geographic location of theat least one signal on a display.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising processing the received or measured data to provideattributes of the at least one signal within a spectrum of interest. 6.The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the spectralcomponents of the at least one signal using the degradation data.
 7. Themethod of claim 6, wherein the degradation data includes measuredterrain data of geographic locations stored in the static database forperforming pattern distortion.
 8. The method of claim 7, furtherdetermining interference variables for signal optimization.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising generating a visual representationof the at least one signal.
 10. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising analyzing a plurality of signal parameters at one time foreach of the at least one signal.
 11. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising classifying the at least one signal.
 12. A method forspectrum analysis, comprising: receiving signal data by a signaldetection module from a radio frequency (RF) receiver; determiningspectral components of at least one signal using a spectrum analysismodule; providing the spectral components from the spectrum analysismodule to a data extraction module; the data extraction moduledetermining signal characteristics including modulation type, bandwidth,communication protocol, and/or symbol information; sending at least onequery to a memory to classify the at least one signal based upon thespectral components of the at least one signal in comparison to datastored in the memory, and to historical data stored on the memory,wherein the historical data includes historical signal components,historical device locations, and time associated with historical signaldata; comparing the signal characteristics to the historical data;generating degradation data for the at least one signal; and generatingat least one signal optimization parameter indicating at least one stepto optimize the at least one signal.
 13. The method of claim 12, whereinthe degradation data for the at least one signal is based on noiseparameters, hardware parameters and/or environmental parameters.
 14. Themethod of claim 12, further comprising indicating changes to thecharacteristics of the at least one signal for optimizing the at leastone signal using the at least one signal optimization parameter and/oranalysis of the degradation data.
 15. The method of claim 12, furthercomprising determining a system or carrier using spectrum correspondingto the at least one signal.
 16. The method of claim 12, wherein the atleast one signal optimization parameter is generated based on thedegradation data.
 17. A system for spectrum management, comprising:radiofrequency (RF) receiver, a signal processor, and at least onememory connected to the signal processor; wherein the RF receiver isoperable to measure RF energy and output RF energy measurements to thesignal processor; wherein the signal processor is operable to: generatesignal data based on the RF energy measurements received from the RFreceiver; compare the generated signal data with data stored in the atleast one memory to identify at least one signal; calculate signaldegradation data for the at least one signal based on informationassociated with the at least one signal; and provide signal optimizationparameters for signal optimization of the at least one signal.
 18. Thesystem of claim 17, wherein the information associated with the at leastone signal includes noise figure parameters.
 19. The system of claim 17,wherein the information associated with the at least one signal includeshardware parameters.
 20. The system of claim 17, wherein the informationassociated with the at least one signal includes environment parameters.